Match Makers
by skittlebit
Summary: Naruto and Sakura notice people close to them growing fond of each other and deiced to play match maker. Little do they realize that they are not the only ones playing.
1. Intro

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, if I did, Naru/Sakur would already be cannon.

'Represent thoughts'

Main pairing –NarutoxSakura,

Side pairings- Shiki/Ino, TsunadexJiraiya

Match Makers

Naruto sat in a dimly lit room filled with the sound of soft voices and quiet laughter. He observed mahogany tables draped with white table cloths, on top of which were several napkins folded to look like sea shells. Next those napkins were candles, each subtly illuminating the faces of customers. He observed each diner noticed the majority of men were wearing suits. The idea of wearing a suit one day was rather dreadful to Naruto, but to wear it multiple times a week, seemed unfathomable. Naruto was constantly adjusting his pants, loosening his tie, pulling on his collar for air, but no matter what he did, he was never comfortable. As matter of fact, the whole restaurant made him feel unsettled.

Naruto broke out of his trance and decided to stop staring at people. In order to keep himself entertained he fiddled with the silverware on his table. From time to time he would take sips of water, check out the crowd, and read through the menu. It was rather lonely, the waiter being Naruto's sole company who came by on occasion to refill his drink. All in all, Naruto was growing impatient.

'Where is that dam pervert? If he doesn't show up I swear I will kill him. And what is with this restaurant, it seems so…romantic, why would he pick this place?' Naruto thought to himself. It was Jiraiya after all who told Naruto to meet him at the Golden Leaf restaurant at seven O'clock. It was now seven fifteen and there was no sign of the white haired ninja. Naruto was subconsciously gripping the fork in his hand tighter and tighter, envisioning ambushing the pervert as soon as he appeared at the lobby entrance. In order to take his mind off of the waiting Naruto began skimming through the menu.

After a few minutes of reading the menu Naruto scanned the crowd once again to search for a white haired man, just about ready to leave. He searched though the dining room but nothing popped out at him. He then looked towards the entrance and saw her. A majestic figure of pink and red had just entered the restaurant. His body immediately relaxed and all fidgeting stopped as he stared in awe at what he saw.

End of Intro

This intro is a preview of what's to come. Chapter one will start three weeks before this.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Three weeks before the restaurant.**_

"God that mission was soooo boring!" Naruto cried as he slumped through the front gates of Konoha.

"We all agree Naruto, but stop whining already." Sakura replied sharply with her arms crossed.

"A mission is a mission." Kakashi chimed in from the front of the pack.

"How profound." Naruto muttered to himself still bitter.

"Naruto, don't make me angry." Kakashi said coolly. Naruto looked up at Kakashi who met his eyes. He could tell that there was an evil smile behind that mask. Naruto just gulped and kept his mouth shut. "Anyways, I have to go report the results to the Godaime, good bye." As he finished his sentence Kakashi turned and leapt towards the Hokage building.

"Bye Kakashi-sensei." Sakura waved and then turned around to talk to her blond teammate but paused for a second. "Hey, where is Sai?" Sakura said, realizing the dark haired, pale boy had already disappeared.

"Do you really want to know?" Naruto retorted with a smile.

Sakura thought for a second until a disturbed look crept onto her face. "Not really...No." They both let out hints of laughter.

Naruto and Sakura had become best friends since his return. They managed to spend some time together, but being a ninja is rather time consuming. Sakura was busy working under Tsunade when she wasn't on missions and Naruto was always off training his wind affinity during his free time. What time they spent with each other outside of missions consisted of the occasional spar, the loser buying the other ramen, but that was about it. The life of a ninja was rather busy, not leaving much time for romance and friendships.

"Crap, it's been like ten hours since we ate. I seriously hate that mission now." Naruto said after hearing his stomach grumble.

"I'm hungry too. Want to go get some ramen?" Sakura asked while pointing in the direction of the stand.

"Of course!" Naruto yelled quickly.

"Let's go then." Sakura replied with a smile at seeing how Naruto still became happy over food.

The streets of Konoha were busy. It was six thirty, prime time for any activity. The villagers were getting out of work and stopping by restaurants and food stands for dinner while the young kids and ninjas were playing in the streets. Even with all of this commotion, something caught Naruto's eye. It was Shikamaru and Ino, who were lying side by side on a nearby hill looking up at the clouds.

"Ino, Shikamaru, hey guys." Naruto yelled as he stopped to wave at them.

Ino sat up, her head darting in different directions until she spotted her friends. "Oh hey Naruto, Sakura." Shikamaru meanwhile just waved slightly while still lying down.

"You two want to get some ramen with us?" Sakura asked.

Ino looked at Shikamaru and exchanged a few words before replying. "We will meet you there in like twenty minutes." Ino said, lying back down.

"That was odd." Naruto said eyeing the pair.

"Yeah, those two are awfully close lately." Sakura contemplated.

The only reason Naruto and Sakura had noted Shikamaru and Ino's changed behavior is they had become close with the two once again. Naruto became good friends with Shikamaru upon his return, always having a bond with him considering they were the slackers in class, while Sakura rekindled her relationship with Ino during their medical training. Over the past month they could not help but notice the change in attitude their friends took towards each other. As Shikamaru would have described it, Ino "wasn't as troublesome."

"You think they like each other." Naruto said off hand.

Sakura sighed. "I have been wondering that for awhile. Who knows with those two, probably."

"We should just ask them." Naruto suggested.

"When they are around each other? No, that could be really awkward. If we do ask them we should do it while they're apart." Sakura replied holding up her pointer finger.

"Yea I guess." Naruto lamented.

The two friends ended their brief hiatus and continued to the ramen stand. They arrived a few minutes later and were greeted by Ayame.

"Hey Naruto, Sakura-san, what can I get you two?" Ayame asked with a smile.

"I will have the pork ramen." Naruto answered.

"I will have the chicken." Sakura said nodding at Ayame.

"It will be right out." Ayame assured them as she handed the old man their order.

"So, have you talked to Tsunade-Bachaan about Saskue?" Naruto asked after a brief silence.

"Naruto I already told you, Tsunade-_sensei_ said their decision was final. We just have to be patient." Sakura replied.

"Why don't you just tell her that Saskue is okay now and can rejoin our team?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, you know I tried many times. Tsunade-sensei is standing by the council's decision for once and nothing you or I say will make a difference." Sakura sighed.

"There has to be something we can do, he is still the Saskue we knew once." Naruto argued.

"I know, I want to reunite team seven as well, but maybe our desire for his return is clouding our judgment. Maybe being back for a month is not enough time to adjust."

"Maybe…" Naruto sighed and looked off towards the sky while Sakura waded through her thoughts.

Five months after Naruto returned he, Sakura, Kakashi, and Sai went on a mission during which they intercepted team hawk. There was a fight, the end result of which was Saskue returning to the village along with his team. Team hawk was granted safety in return for Saskue's cooperation. Sakura and Naruto visited Saskue in his cell while his fate was being decided. It was awkward at first but eventually they were able to hold something resembling a conversation. It ended up in return for Saskue keeping his mouth shut about the Uchihad massacre he would be pardoned from his crimes and welcomed back to the village, but as a precaution he would be suspended from all missions for a year. Since his release he has been visiting Sakura and Naruto off and on while also regrouping with his team.

"Oh yeah, how did that medical test thing go with Tsunade-bachaan?" Naruto asked in order to break the awkward silence that had been hovering over them for a good five minutes.

"How did you know about that?" Sakura asked, a little surprised.

"You told me, like two weeks ago." Sakura still had a blank look on her face. "Remember we were on that mission where we set up in that crappy shack-"

"Oh yeah." Sakura interrupted him. "You actually remembered?" She asked pleasantly surprised.

"Of course I did, you said it was important. So how did that thing go?" Naruto asked again.

"Well, that _thing_ is heart surgery, and it went great. Tsunade-sensei said that I am now qualified to do any treatment." Sakura said with a look of pride in her eyes.

"That's great Sakura-chan! I always knew you were the smartest ninja in the village." Naruto gave her a tacky thumb up, causing her to laugh.

"Thanks Naruto." Sakura said warmly after recovering from her spout of laughter. Naruto was a baka on just about everything, but when it came to her and being a ninja, he never forgot anything.

Their food arrived shortly after ending all conversation. They finished within fifteen minutes, Sakura eating her first and only bowl while Naruto polished off his sixth. They were both full when they saw two familiar people walking towards the stand.

"What's up guys?" Ino said as she took a seat next to Sakura. Shikamaru followed suit, taking a seat next to Naruto.

"Nothing much, what about you two?" Sakura asked.

"We just got back from our mission; it was a class A."

"BAH! Lucky." Naruto yelled and was about to continue when Sakura spoke.

"Naruto it was one boring mission, let it go." Sakura scolded her friend. Naruto looked at her, his face still pouting. Sakura then turned to the other two to explain. "Our mission was a crappy class B, it probably could be considered class C since we didn't fight anyone."

"Oh that sucks, sorry Naruto." Shikamaru knew his friend well enough to know how he reacted to crappy missions.

"It's not a big deal I guess. I've had worse." A smile returned to Naruto's face with those words.

"Well, what was your mission exactly?" Sakura questioned further.

"We fought some rock ninjas down by the border." Shikamaru replied.

"Anyone get hurt?"

"Nah, just a few minor injuries, but I treated them so everyone is ok." Ino informed her.

"That's good." Naruto commented.

"So what were you two doing on the hill?" Sakura asked as she handed some money to Ayame.

"Oh Shikamaru and I were just watching the clouds together. It's rather relaxing." Ino said with a dream like look in her eyes.

"Oh really." Sakura said, her eyebrows rising indicating that she was interested. She looked to see how Naruto was responding, only to see him staring off into space. She quickly jabbed him with her elbow, causing him to jump up and almost fall out of his seat.

"What was that for-"Naruto was cut off by Sakura.

"So do you two watch clouds together often?" Sakura prodded. Shikamaru could not help but notice Sakura's change in behavior

"Oh no, nothing like that." He replied cautiously.

Ino eyed the clock behind the counter. "I got to head home. Mom and dad will want me to help at the flower shop." Ino stated as she got up to leave.

Sakura stood up quickly after her. "I will walk with you. Naruto, why don't you walk back with Shikamaru?" Sakura ordered more than asked.

Naruto gave her an odd look then sighed. "Sure why not?" He got up along with Shikamaru and headed out of the stand.

"Bye Shiki, Naruto, see you two later." Ino called waving her hand.

"Bye you two." Sakura added.

Naruto waved in return and was the only one to say good bye. Shikamaru just gave them a careless flick of his wrist before placing his hands back into his pockets.

"**Is Sakura okay, she was acting a little weird before." Shikimaru said when they were out of earshot of the two Kunoichi.**

"She is fine. She was just acting that way because what you were saying applied to what we were talking about it earlier." Naruto replied.

"What were you talking about, cloud watching?" Shikamaru smirked.

"No, just whether or not you and Ino like each other." Naruto said nonchalantly.

The smirk immediately disappeared from Shikamaru's face. "What would make you two think of something like that?"

"Just by the way you two were acting and all." Naruto replied placing his hands in his pockets as well.

"Hmm." Shikamaru replied while scratching his chin.

There was a short pause before Naruto asked his next question. "So are you two going out?"

"No, nothing like that. We're just teammates." The Nara replied quickly, looking towards the nearest shop.

"Really, so you don't like her, not even a little bit?" Naruto asked all knowingly.

"Ino? Are you crazy? She is the most troublesome girl I know." Shikamaru responded giving Naruto a shocked look.

"Maybe that's what attracts you to her."

"That doesn't make any sense Naruto." Shikamaru replied quickly.

"Or maybe it makes such little sense that it really makes perfect sense." Naruto said while nodding his head in approval of his hypothesis.

"What!?" Shikamaru responded now truly confused.

"Shikamaru, or should I say _Shiki,"_ Naruto said with a smirk. "You may be smart, but you are a terrible liar."

"I don't know what you're talking about…at all. Anyways, this is my house." The Nara pointed to a small house on the left. He ran up the steps then turned around. "Naruto you are becoming troublesome too." Shikamaru called from his porch.

Naruto just waved him off and began the long walk back to his apartment.

Ino and Sakura were walking side by side in silence while the latter was deciding how to ask her friend about Shikamaru.

"So Ino, you and Shikamaru sure are spending a lot of time together." Sakura said coolly with her arms folded behind her back.

"Yeah, he is fun to hang out with." Ino responded unsuspectingly.

"Are you two going out?" Sakura tried to ease into the question but really just blurted it out.

"No." Ino responded quickly with a hint of disappointment.

"Do you like him?" Sakura continued, sensing the sadness in her friend's voice.

"I don't know, I think so." Ino was blushing deeply.

"Ino blushing? That never happens." Sakura joked.

"It's just that, I think I really like him. Whenever I think about him, I feel happy and safe. " Ino did her best to describe what it was she was feeling.

"Well you could just be good friends." Sakura replied, after relating the idea to her own life.

"Sakura, when Naruto or Chouji are sad, I want them to feel better and I do feel slightly sad myself, but when I see Shiki sad, not only do I want him to feel better, but I also feel sad, and the idea that he is in pain creates a pit in my stomach, I don't really know how to describe it. It's almost painful. That's how I know it's not friendship."

"Wow." Sakura said, not sure how to respond. Ino was never like this. She was like Naruto, carefree and always joking, but now she was serious, more than Sakura had ever seen in the time she knew her.

"So yeah I guess I like him but don't think he feels the same way." Ino sighed in defeat.

"What would make you say that?"

"Well, I don't know. He would have asked me out by now if he did, wouldn't he?" Ino responded sheepishly.

"Well you never know. Maybe he is just shy or scared." Sakura reassured her friend.

"Maybe." Ino responded then turned towards the flower shop which they had arrived at without Sakura even noticing. "Well, I got to go, see you later Forehead." Ino smirked as she entered the building.

"Bye Ino-pig." Sakura called before turning the corner and heading towards her home. She was contemplating chasing down Naruto and asking him if he learned anything from Shikamaru, but decided against it. Her parents probably were getting worried. She had told them she would arrive home around five from her mission, it was now seven.

Sakura started her walk home and began reviewing what Ino had said. _"When I see Shiki sad, not only do I want him to feel better, but I also feel sad, and the idea that he is in pain creates a pit in my stomach, I don't really know how to describe it. It's almost painful." _ 'Is that the difference between friendship and love?' Sakura thought, and then something struck her. 'Is that how I am around Naruto?'

End of Chapter


	3. Chapter 2

Sakura headed to the Hokage's office the next morning for her usual check in. On her way she passed all of the opening stores and restaurants, the village was just waking up. She arrived at the red double doors a few minutes later only to hear a conversation occurring on the other side. She waited a minute, wondering whether it was alright for her to interrupt. Eventually she knocked and Tsunade called her in. Sakura opened the door and stepped in, seeing that Tsunade was talking to Jiraiya.

"Good morning Tsunade-sensei, Jiraiya-sama." Sakura greeted as she bowed.

"Morning Sakura." Tsunade replied while Jiraiya just nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"I was just reporting in." Sakura waited for her orders.

"Well, you're on the normal hospital duties today, but before you go, how is Naruto? Kakashi said he was complaining about your team's previous mission." Tsunade inquired, leaning forward in her chair.

"Well he was disappointed, you know him, always wanting class A missions. He returned to being over excited rather quickly though, so don't worry." Sakura replied with a smile.

"That sounds like him. Well you can go." Tsunade said.

"Thank you Tsunade-sensei, goodbye." Sakura bowed once again and headed out the door.

"That boy is just like you." Tsunade said as she turned in her chair to face Jiraiya who was sitting on an open window seal.

"Yeah, a lot like me. Hell, even parts of his ninja career are like mine. Our teammate left the village too." Jiraiya sighed and paused as he turned to look out the window. "But at least he succeeded where I failed." Jiraiya had a look of nostalgia and sadness. This was a side only Tsunade had seen from him. To anyone else he was always perverted and carefree, but around her, he was reminded of his past, not to mention she was the only person he felt truly comfortable around.

"You're not still blaming yourself for that are you? Orochimaru was a lost cause, you can't blame yourself." Tsunade replied.

"Tsunade-himie, a true man takes responsibility for his failures and puts the feelings of others before his own." Jiraiya replied as he turned around to face her again.

"Well, you don't have to be such a man." Tsunade joked.

"I do around you." Tsunade smiled and a blush was about to creep onto her face. "You're a lot of women with boobs like that."

Tsunade's smile quickly turned into a grimace as she got up to punch the Sannin out of the building, but Jiraiya predicted this and jumped out window onto a frog summon.

"Pervert!" Tsunade yelled out the window.

"Not just any pervert, the legendary pervert." Jiraiya called as he disappeared on his frog mount.

Tsunade slumped back into her chair, thinking of her perverted teammate. Eventually a warm smile crept across her face.

Sakura went through the rest of her day which was nothing out of the ordinary. She treated a few minor Kunai cuts, checked on patients, and assigned jobs to fellow medics. She had already decided to head to Naruto's apartment when her shift ended. She was dying to know if Shikamaru liked Ino. The only thing that worried her was whether or not Naruto found out, and knowing that baka, he probably did not.

When the clock struck eleven Sakura threw on her coat and headed out. It was a rather chilly evening, but that did not deter her from the mission. She walked to Naruto's apartment with a brisk pace, passing by several closing shops and restaurants. She finally reached his apartment and knocked, earning a yell from the other side.

"Coming." The voice called from across the door. She heard the door unlock and saw it fling open. "Sakura-chan, what a surprise!" Naruto said enthusiastically with a wide grin.

"Hey Naruto." Sakura replied.

"Well come in, it's cold out there." Naruto said, opening the door completely and gesturing her in. Sakura stepped in, cautiously eying his apartment in order to avoid tripping over trash. To her left she saw a small kitchen partially enclosed by a counter, at the center of which there was a table. Directly in front of her were a couch and a recliner with a coffee table in the middle. Behind this room Sakura could see his bed room through a partially opened door. To the left of his room was the bathroom.

Sakura stepped over a ninja shirt that was on the floor and took a seat on the sofa. It was the first time she had ever been in his apartment.

"You know Naruto; it wouldn't kill you to clean up around here." Sakura said while cautiously lifting a sock off the coffee table and placing it on the ground.

"You can't say that for sure. I don't know about you, but I'm not a risk taker." Naruto joked as he sunk into his recliner. Sakura smirked as she let out a slight laugh. "Besides, I don't get many visitors. So what do you need?"

"Well, I was wondering if you talked to Shikamaru about Ino." Sakura asked hopefully.

Naruto had a puzzled look on his face as he scratched the back of his head. "Uhh, Shikamaru and Ino?" Naruto asked as if he had forgotten their previous discussion.

"Naruto didn't you pick up on my hints?" Sakura asked almost frustrated.

"Hints?" Naruto continued his joke.

"Ugh. How did you not find out?" Sakura asked part disappointed part angry.

"Calm down Sakura-chan." Naruto laughed slightly. "I am just messing with you." After he finished his statement he moved to the left to dodge the sock that Sakura had previously taken off the table. "Of course I found out."

"And?" Sakura asked sounding anxious.

"He likes her." Naruto replied coolly.

"That's great." Sakura said with sigh of relief. "Are you sure though?"

"He didn't say it exactly, but I could tell by the way he was acting." Naruto continued.

"That's good enough for me." With that Sakura pulled out a small notepad and a pencil and began tapping the paper with the eraser. "Let's see, how do we get them together now?" Sakura said to herself.

"What do you mean get them together? I don't see why _we_ should get involved."

"Ino really likes him, but she thinks he doesn't like her. If he is denying his feelings then there is a chance he won't say anything. If nothing ever happens I think Ino will get hurt." Sakura informed her teammate.

"Well then why don't we just tell them?" Naruto asked ignorantly.

"Because if we just tell them then they will feel like we invaded their privacy and betrayed their trust. The only way we can do this is to set them up on a date without them knowing."

"Oh so in order not to betray their trust we trick them into going on a date. Well good luck with that." Naruto said as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"Well, it sounds bad when you say it like that. Anyways Naruto I am going to need your help." Sakura said.

"What could I possibly help you with? I am not the best with this romance stuff." Naruto said with a slight blush.

"Well, I will need you to help me with Shikamaru. You are his friend, so whatever we plan to do I need you to communicate it to him. Besides, chances are if you ask instead of a girl he will agree." Sakura explained. "If you are going to help me with that you mine as well help me plan it. We will be like matchmakers." Sakura said with excitement as she began generating ideas.

"Okay." Naruto reluctantly agreed. 'Ninja's turned match makers, where did I go wrong.' He smirked at his thought. "Maybe we should get Saskue over here too." He said still smirking.

"Yeah, I'm sure Saskue would love this stuff." Sakura replied sarcastically, causing both of them to snicker.

Naruto sighed. He did not want to get involved in all of this, but Sakura cared about it so he would help. Besides, why wouldn't he want to spend more time with her?

"So, here is what I got so far." Sakura said as she began reading off of the note pad, which had several eraser marks and scratch outs. "We invite both of them to a nice dinner, saying all four of us are going to be there. Everyone goes, but then we leave, saying we forgot something. Leaving those two by themselves, like a date." Sakura smiled at her plan then looked to Naruto for assurance. His forehead was crinkled and he was rubbing his chin. "What is it Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"It's a good idea, but, it is just that, with this whole nice dinner thing, I don't see Shikamaru agreeing to go. You know he doesn't like doing stuff, much less dressing up to do stuff. Also, he might get suspicious about going to a nice restaurant with the girl he likes." Naruto contemplated.

Sakura thought for a bit. "I guess you're right. Back to square one." Sakura proclaimed then sighed.

"Well, I have an idea, but I don't know." Naruto offered timidly.

"Right now we have nothing, so go for it." Sakura assured him.

"Well, don't laugh." He said and Sakura smiled. "What if we ask them both to picnic? We will tell them that we are going to watch clouds. That way Shikamaru will like the idea, and I'm sure Ino will agree. As far as how we leave, we get someone to ask us to go to the Hokage's office, so it seems less likely that we planned to leave. Does that work?" He asked hesitantly.

"Naruto that's perfect, a picnic can be so romantic." Sakura said with a smile. "See you're not so bad at this romance stuff, but how do you plan on getting us asked to the Hokage's office?"

"We could get Kakashi-sensei to do it." Naruto suggested.

"I doubt he will, you know how lazy he is." Sakura reminded her friend.

"Oh he will, I have my ways." Naruto said deviously. "I just need to talk to Jiraiya."

"Okay, I will tell Ino that we are having a picnic and you tell Shikamaru. Do you have a place in mind?" Sakura asked as she got up and stretched.

"You know where the waterfall is?" Naruto asked, getting up as well.

"Yeah, but where around there?" Sakura asked as she headed towards the door.

"At the base of the fall. Don't worry though, I will send a shadow clone to guide you there. I'm sure Kakashi could just summon Pakkun to find us as far as he is concerned. Also, we should use tomorrow to plan and make the actual picnic Sunday.

"Sounds good." Sakura said as she opened the door. "Bye Naruto. Thanks for the help." She waved as she left.

"No problem. Bye Sakura-chan." Naruto called as he closed the door. After she was gone he went back to his recliner and sighed. 'Well there goes my picnic spot for my first date with Sakura-chan. Not to mention my one idea for getting leverage over Kakashi-sensei.' Naruto thought to himself.

The next morning Naruto headed out looking for his perverted teacher instead of training. He searched the usual spots, which were anywhere you could peep at naked women. He went to the bathhouses, brothels, and even the waterfall, but there was no sign of Jiraiya. He deiced to ask the Hokage if he was assigned a mission, which would be the only way his sensei would refrain from his favorite activities.

Naruto arrived at the Hokage's office a few minutes later and entered without knocking. He saw Tsunade talking to Jiraiya, who was at the window seal once again.

"ERO-SENNIN I HAVE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU!" Naruto yelled as he pointed at the perverted man.

His sudden outburst combined with a stealthy entry caused Tsunade to jump out of her seat and Jiraiya to almost fall out the window.

"Naruto, don't you know how to nock." Tsunade berated, a vein starting to bulge on her forehead as she swung her head around.

"Oh calm down Bachaan. I am here to talk to Jiraiya." Naruto said.

Tsunade was about to leap across the room, but Jiraiya placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "What is it Naruto?"

"I need a favor." He paused, indicating it was a big favor. "I know you just finished your new book and already have a few copies of the manuscript. I was wondering if I could, maybe, have one." Naruto asked, his voice having a higher inflection at the end.

"Naruto, you are too young to be reading my books." Jiraiya replied.

"Besides, if you become a pervert, I will make sure Sakura beats the crap out of you." Tsunade warned.

"No no no nothing like that." Naruto replied nervously at the thought of the beatings he would receive. "I need it so I can get a favor from Kakashi-sensei."

"I don't know Naruto; I can't have my book being leaked." Jiraiya said.

"Please Jiraiya-sensei." Naruto begged with puppy dog eyes.

Jiraiya sighed and looked at Tsunade who nodded at him. He looked back at Naruto. "Okay here." As he said this he reached into his back pack and threw Naruto a thick stack of paper. "You owe me." Jiraiya said.

"Oh thank you so much sensei. I will buy you dinner or take you to a brothel something." Naruto said, heading out the door.

"I wonder what he could possibly need from Kakashi that would make him borrow my book." Jiraiya wondered.

"With Naruto I would rather not know." Tsunade joked, causing both of them to laugh.

Naruto headed to Kakashi's apartment with a little more oomph in his step, having completed the first part of his plan. He arrived and knocked on the faded white door. There was no answer so he waited a bit and then knocked again. Eventually Kakashi arrived at the door.

"How can I help you Naruto?" He asked lethargically.

"I need a favor-"

"Sorry I am bust right now." Kakashi interrupted.

Naruto looked behind the man into his main room. He saw a lit lamp next to which there was a copy if Icha Icha Paradise.

"How many times have you read that book?" Naruto joked.

"I have lost count, but I am sure I can read that book an unlimited number of times and still enjoy it." Kakashi defended his only hobby.

"Well, it's a shame that you can't help out. I just picked up the manuscript for Jiraiya's next book, but since you're busy, I mine as well just throw it away." Naruto let out an exaggerated sigh as he took out the thick stack of papers and began waving them around carelessly.

Kakashi's eye widened more than Naruto had ever seen before. He lunged out to grab the papers but Naruto moved them higher and farther back. "Oh, so you do want to help?" Naruto said in a fake surprised voice.

"You know I do. Just give me the manuscript and I will do anything." Kakashi pleaded.

Naruto smiled in victory. "Okay, I will give to you after I explain the plan though." Naruto continued to explain his elaborate plan, his voice rising at certain part along with his hands doing random motions. "Okay, you have all of that?" Naruto asked, taking in a deep breath.

"So I just have to say you and Sakura are needed at the Hokage's office?" Kakashi asked, surprised that he had such a small task for such a large reward.

"That's it." When Naruto finished his statement he carelessly tossed the papers towards Kakashi who scrambled to make sure they remained in perfect condition. "You know, this cannot be healthy." Naruto commented.

"Eh what do you know."

"Just be at the waterfall." Naruto reminded him.

"Fine whatever." Kakashi replied not looking up from his new book. "Goodbye." He said as he closed the door and retreated into his abode. Naruto headed away from the apartment and went to Sakura's home, his next stop.

Sakura had the day off like expected and had just finished her chores when she heard a knock at the door. "I got it." She called to her parents after glancing at the clock. It was four, which meant that it should be Naruto knocking. She shuffled to the door, then turned to the mirror in the hall way. She made sure she looked presentable, checking her hair and clothes before opening the door. "Hi Naruto." Sakura said politely from the entrance of her home.

"Hey Sakura-chan. I guess you know why I am here." He said scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah." She turned her head to speak into her home. "I am going, bye mom, bye dad." She yelled before turning around and closing the door. "So what do you want to buy?" Sakura asked as they headed towards the market place.

"Sakura-chan, all I ever eat is instant ramen; you are looking to the wrong person if you want food advice." Naruto smiled and Sakura giggled.

"Good point. Well, I guess we can just get sandwiches and chips." Sakura suggested.

"Sounds good." Naruto offered no argument.

They reached the market a few minutes after their conversation ended. Sakura went through grabbing turkey meat, cheese, and bread. Naruto just followed rather disinterested. After about 30 minutes they were finished.

"So is that everything?" Naruto asked seeing Sakura paying for the turkey meat.

"Yep, we are good to go." Sakura replied, placing the meat into the hand basket she brought with her.

"Well then lets…hey its Jiraiya. HEY, ERO-SENNIN." Naruto yelled while waving to the white haired sannin.

Jiraiya's eyes widened as he looked back and forth to make sure no one knew that _he _was the "Ero-sennin." When he realized everyone was confused he headed towards Naruto. "Naruto, I told you not to call me that in public. Hi Sakura." Jiraiya whispered, still checking if anyone knew that Ero sennin was referring to him.

"Hi Jiraiya-sama." Sakura said, trying to suppress her laughter at Naruto and Jiraiya's relationship.

"So what are you two doing here?" Jiraiya asked, finally relaxing.

"Just getting some groceries, what about you?" Naruto replied.

Jiraiya looked down to the four bottles of sake in his bag. "Umm…Same here." He replied scratching the back of his head.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other and sighed. "You know drinking as much as you do is unhealthy." This was the medic in Sakura speaking.

"Yeah, that's what Tsunade told me when we were younger." Jiraiya sighed.

"And now she is as bad as you." Sakura lamented.

"Things change when you get older. Speaking of Tsunade, I need to go; we are having a drinking contest." When Jiraiya said this he held up the Sake bottles. "Bye you two, stay out of trouble." After he said this Jiraiya summoned a frog and rode away on its back.

"BYE ERO-SENNIN." Naruto yelled. Jiraiya just sighed in defeat.

"Well we better get going Naruto." Sakura said as she led the way back to her house. Naruto nodded in agreement and followed. They walked for a few minutes, passing through the crowded streets as the sun set. Eventually they reached Sakura's home.

"Well here we are." Sakura said in front of her door.

"Do you need me to help you with anything?" Naruto offered.

"No offense, but the last place I want you is preparing food." Sakura joked but Naruto frowned. "Besides, that little venture took longer than I expected. You still have to convince Shikamaru to come along." Sakura reminded him.

"Oh crap that is right." Naruto looked to Sakura. "Did you already tell Ino?"

"Yeah, it wasn't hard to get her to come along. I just mentioned Shiki being there and she jumped at the idea." Sakura bragged.

"Well isn't that nice." Naruto smirked. "Well, I got to go, who knows how long this could take. I might have knock him out and drag him here."

"I would prefer if you didn't." Sakura gave him a worried look.

"Don't worry, I will get him. Also, I'll send a shadow clone over here at noon. You get Ino with the clone and I will get Shikamaru. Let's go ahead and meet at twelve thirty."

"Sounds like a plan, good luck Naruto." Sakura smiled then opened the door and stepped in. She turned around and waved. "Bye."

"See-yah Sakura-chan." Naruto said before turning around. He looked down the street both ways, sighed, and then began the long walk to Shikamaru's house.

Naruto arrived at the Nara's home after a good twenty minute journey. He knocked on the door and before long it crept open and Shikamaru peaked his head out.

"Oh it's you Naruto. What do you need?" Shikamaru asked as he stepped outside.

"Well, Sakura, Ino, and I are going on a picnic to watch clouds and I was wondering if you wanted to go." Naruto asked.

"A picnic, really?" Naruto nodded. "Why are _you_ going on a picnic?"

"Well, Sakura-chan is kind of forcing me, you know." Naruto mumbled as he looked towards the ground.

"Oh, Sakura is forcing you?" Shiki laughed to himself.

"Yeah whatever." Naruto said, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Well, I will have to pass at your offer."

"Oh come on. If you leave me there with just Ino and Sakura I will literally kill myself. All they would talk about is girl stuff, not to mention they would speak too fast for me to even understand half of it." Shikamaru smirked at his comment. "Come on man, I need another guy. Besides, there will be _free_ food." Naruto added, hoping Shikamaru shared the same passion for food as he did.

"Oh all right." The Nara reluctantly agreed.

"Great, I will meet you here around twelve." Naruto said, practically skipping down the steps towards the street.

"What did I just do?" Shikamaru sighed as he headed back into his home. "How troublesome." He mumbled before closing the door.

End of Chapter


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Naruto shifted some plates around on a blanket, making sure everything looked tidy for the picnic as Sakura requested. He sighed and stood up when he was finished, looking at his surroundings. He watched as the waterfall created a rainbow against the aqua sky and as the cool wind rustled nearby cherry blossoms which were in bloom. He felt at ease, for once. He had been so stressed lately with Saskue's return, intense training, and figuring out how to deal with his feelings towards Sakura. It felt good to be away from it all, even if it was just to set up a picnic.

Naruto noted that it was around noon and decided to send out two shadow clones. One went towards Ino's house and the other Shikamaru's. Once that task was done he laid down on the blanket and just watched clouds until he drifted off.

Thirty minutes later he was awoken out of his trance by a high pitched squeal. It was Ino. "Wow this place is amazing." She said as neared the picnic blanket. She eyed the waterfall, the rainbow, and the nearby forest. "This is quite the spot."

"Yeah, you even surprised me Naruto. And look, the cherry blossoms are in bloom too." Sakura added, also in awe at the scenery.

"Well I do what I can." Naruto said as he tossed his hands in the air. Once Sakura broke out of her trance she proceeded to sit across from Naruto and place the basket full of food in the center of the blanket. Ino meanwhile took her seat in-between Naruto and Sakura. "Anyways, Shikamaru should be here any second now."

True to Naruto's word Shikamaru appeared from the forest a few minutes later and took a seat across from Ino. "Hey guys, looks like there are a lot of clouds out today." Shikamaru said, looking towards the sky.

"Yeah." Ino agreed while Naruto and Sakura nodded.

Once everyone was settled they began eating. The original plan was for Kakashi to show up any second now, but seeing as he was a few minutes late as always, Naruto decided to eat. Sakura meanwhile just took a few sips of water, not wanting to start a meal just for it to be interrupted. Sure enough, just as Naruto was about to take bite out of his sandwich a poof was heard.

"Yo." Kakashi said as he walked towards the group. "Well isn't this cute." The Jounin joked while tilting his head sideways. Naruto shot him a dirty look in return but Kakashi just ignored him. "Anyways, Naruto and Sakura, the Hokage wants to see you two. She said it is urgent."

Sakura looked towards Naruto and then to Ino and Shikamaru. "Well I guess we have to go, sorry about this." Sakura said as she stood up.

"Maybe we should go with-"

"No its fine. It would be such a waste, you two enjoy it." Sakura cut off Shikamaru. "Let's go Naruto."

Naruto looked towards Sakura, then to his sandwich, back to Sakura, and finally to his sandwich where he stayed. "One sec." Naruto said, taking a big bite out of his turkey and swiss.

"The Hokage said it was urgent, which means we need to go _now."_ Sakura put a little emphasis on the end to show she was serious.

"Let me finish this sandwich." Naruto said as he leaned forward to take another bite. He never did get that bite though. A strong hand grabbed him by the collar and dragged him off the blanket, sending the sandwich flying. "Sakura-chan, I wanted to eat that." Naruto whined.

"It is just a sandwich, stick to the plan." She reminded him.

"That was a good sandwich." Naruto said as he was dragged into the woods.

Kakashi walked with them until they reached the woods. "Well my part of the deal is done, so bye." He said before turning into a puff of smoke.

Sakura was about to say thanks, but he was already gone. "Dam he's fast when he doesn't want to do something." Sakura observed but then got back on task. "Okay Naruto, now we get to sit here and see how it goes." She said as she let go of his collar.

"Ugh." Naruto said as he rubbed his sore neck.

"Sorry about that, but I just want this to go perfectly." Sakura apologized.

"It's fine. I understand where you are coming from, but you owe me a sandwich." Naruto pointed his finger at her.

"Whatever." Sakura said as she laughed slightly. Then they both turned to watch Shikamaru and Ino from the cover of the forest. Sakura looked on intently while Naruto looked strained.

"How can you hear them?" Naruto asked looking towards Sakura.

"By sending chakra to my ears to increase my sense of hearing." Sakura quickly explained, trying not to miss any of the conversation.

"That's so cool! Can you teach me?"

"Be quiet, and no. It requires a lot of chakra control and I would rather you didn't burn your ears off." Sakura smirked.

"Fine, I will just walk around over there." Naruto pouted as he got up. Sakura just waved him off, still focusing on Shikamaru and Ino.

"What's with those two?" Shikamaru asked Ino before he took another bite out of his sandwich.

"I have no idea. I don't think anyone but those two will ever understand each other."Ino said, causing both of them to laugh. Shikamaru nodded agreement. "Do you think they like each other?" Ino said looking towards Shikamaru.

Shikamaru sighed inside his mind. He really was not one to gossip about relationships or people, but he was smart enough to see that if he didn't participate in this conversation he was screwed the rest of the picnic. He also knew Ino would see right through him if he lied, so he decided to tell the truth.

"I don't really know. It's possible."

"Yeah, especially with that crush Naruto had on Sakura before he left. I guess it was only a crush though." Ino pointed out.

Sakura's ears were burning, figuratively and literally.

"Ino, I hate to talk about this stuff, but from what I saw, Naruto didn't have just a crush on her. It was something more, a lot more." Shikamaru paused as he searched through his memory. "I will never forget the look in his eyes when he promised to bring Saskue back. Seeing her cry killed him." Shikamaru said with a look of nostalgia.

"Wow…I had no idea. I thought it was just another childish crush." Ino said shocked slightly. "Do you think he still feels that way toward her?"

Sakura perked up, sending even more chakra to her ears.

"I don't know. He hasn't talked about it since he returned."

"Sounds like he moved on." Ino said but Shikamaru shook his head.

"Naruto is the kind of guy who doesn't change as far as his goals and what he wants. It's true, he could have lost interest, but I think at first he didn't say anything because he hadn't kept his promise yet. The only thing I don't understand is why he hasn't told her since Saskue's return. He's such a troublesome guy." Shikamaru sighed.

"Wow Shiki, who knew _you_ could be so deep?" Ino joked.

"Don't get used to it." Shikamaru replied smugly.

"So how is it going?" Naruto snuck up Sakura causing her to jump and almost squeal. When she realized it was him a blushed reached her face.

"Oh good, good, good." She replied quickly.

"You okay?" Naruto eyed her suspiciously.

"Yeah, um I'm fine."

"Well, if it's going good I guess we can leave now."

"But-"Sakura interjected but Naruto stopped her.

"Come on, you know how awkward it would get if they started making out?" Naruto reminded Sakura.

Sakura pictured the image in her mind. "Ick, I guess you're right." Sakura said with a disgusted look on her face as she stood up, taking one last look at the couple. "I hope it works out."

"You and me both, now let's go." Naruto said, leading the way.

Sakura looked at him leave and a smile crept onto her face. 'Naruto really cared for me back then.' This revaluation brought up another thought though. 'Does he still feel the same way he used to?'

End of Chapter

The reason I was able to update this so fast was I already had the chapter written; I didn't publish it though cause I still needed to proof read. I'm going to be busy for the next week or so, but I might be able to get chapter 4 done. I know the date scene was short, but I really want to focus on Naru/Sakur.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Naruto and Sakura had not seen each other since they left Ino and Shikamaru's date. Naruto had made a breakthrough in his training which put him in overdrive. He would leave in the morning and train with Kakashi or Jiraiya for the entire day. He only took breaks for lunch, water, and chakra recovery. As a result all Naruto could manage to do when he reached his home was shower, eat, and pass out. Meanwhile Sakura was working at the hospital and undergoing some intense training herself. Tsunade was teaching her how to summon ___Katsyuga_. Sakura picked up on the summoning technique rather fast but was still having trouble bursting enough chakra to summon a boss level creature.

The pair's lack of face time changed though on Wednesday morning when they were both called to the Hokage's office. Sakura arrived first; still grumpy because she was woken up an hour before her usual schedule. Before her stood Kakashi who was already speaking to Tsunade while Sai stood next to him silently. Sakura took the room in and she couldn't help but feel like something was missing. She searched the room, from the desk, the pictures of the Hokages, and finally to the window. As she stared at the pane she realized what was missing but before she could say anything Naruto busted in.

"Heya Bachaan, what do you need?!" Naruto boomed as he made his entrance.

"Naruto, for the thousandth time, don't call me that." Tsunade warned before continuing. "I summoned you for a mission, and now that we are all here I can give you the details." Tsunade said as she opened up a folder and began looking through the files.

"What class is it?" Naruto asked immediately.

"It's a class B-"Tsunade replied, but knew she wasn't going to finish.

"So there's no class A's?" Naruto interrupted.

"Naruto, there are no class A's at this moment." A vein began to bulge in Tsunade's forehead as she replied. Naruto was oblivious to this though and was about to say something, but before he could Sakura grabbed his wrist to get his attention and then shook her head. Tsunade looked at Naruto to see if he was going to interrupt again, but seeing he was done she continued. "You will be picking up a package from a village in the northern part of the country. There is a small threat of being ambushed by ninja, which is why it got bumped up to a B. If there are no questions you should go back and pack. Team 7 will leave in one hour. That is all." Tsunade dismissed them.

Sakura took this as an opportunity to point out what was missing from the room. "You know Tsunade-sensei, it seems weird not to see Jiraiya at that window." Sakura said as she pointed towards the opening. "It's like he's always here lately."

"Yeah that's true. That time I needed him for his manuscript he was in here." Naruto added.

"Well…you know….a lot of stuff is going on that he has to report to me." Tsunade replied, a slight blush appearing on her face.

"Right." Sakura said suspiciously.

"Anyways you need to get going, you're leaving in an hour." Tsunade ordered to quickly change the topic.

"Fine. Bye Bachaan." Naruto waved goodbye while Sakura and Sai bowed. Kakashi grabbed the mission information before turning into a puff of smoke.

The four team members went back to their residents. It would take the rest of the day to reach the town and one day to return so they packed food and clothing accordingly. Everyone met back at the main gate within the hour. That is all besides Kakashi.

"He's late again." Sakura sighed.

"You know, for being on his team as long as we have, you would think we would be used to this by now." Naruto smirked.

Sakura was about to reply but she was interrupted by a poof. "Yo." Kakashi said coolly.

"YOURE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura yelled while both pointing their index fingers at him. Sai meanwhile just looked on from the sidelines.

"Do we really have to go through this every time?" Kakashi sighed.

"Yes we do because you are late every time." Sakura replied sharply and Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Fine." He paused to sigh again. "Well, now that that's over we can get to our mission. We should head out immediately if we want to get into town before night fall." Kakashi reminded his team.

"Well let's go!" Naruto exclaimed pumping his fist in the air.

"It's nice to see you still have that same enthusiasm as always." Kakashi commented. This caused Sakura to smile. 'Parts of him haven't changed one bit.' She thought with a feeling of nostalgia.

The team began walking down the dirt road. Kakashi was in front while Naruto and Sakura were walking together in the middle and Sai was in the back observing. The team was rather relaxed since there was little to no chance of being ambushed until they retrieved the item.

"So have you seen Shikamaru since the picnic?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I bumped into him in the market place on my way home from training." Naruto replied.

"Did he say anything about Ino?"

"Well I asked him what happened after we left. He just blushed slightly and said "none of your business." So I'm guessing it went well for him." Naruto reflected with a smile at the thought of his friend's actions. Sakura smiled as well. "What about Ino?"

"Well, I almost regret setting them up because she's been talking about him nonstop for the past week and a half." Sakura sighed and Naruto laughed. "So she's happy. Apparently after we left they talked for awhile and then went for a walk together after it got dark. Then he took her home."

"So I guess mission accomplished." Naruto commented.

"Yea, we did a good thing." Sakura nodded.

The team walked for another two hours before Kakashi stopped them. "Okay, it's about one o'clock which means we are stopping for lunch." A smile immediate appeared on Naruto's face.

"Yes! I am so hungry." He cried as he ran towards the edge of the road to sit. Sakura and Sai followed while Kakashi leapt into a tree to keep watch.

Sakura and Sai sat down, each pulling out their lunches while Naruto was looking through his pack for his. Eventually he came up with a covered bowl filled with Ichiraku's ramen.

"Naruto, I made you a sandwich if you want it." Sakura said hesitantly while holding up the food item. "I owe you one after all." She was smiling and for some reason a little nervous.

"Of course, thank you Sakura-chan!" Naruto put away the bowl of ramen and grabbed the sandwich.

"Wow that's the first time I've seen you put down a bowl full of ramen." Sakura commented and laughed slightly.

"What can I say, these sandwiches are really good." He replied before taking a big bite.

"Thanks." Sakura replied proudly. They ate for a few minutes in silence until Sakura spoke. "Hey Sai, I don't think you've said anything at all today, is something wrong?"

"No, but thanks for asking. I have just been observing the way you and Naruto interact. You are very happy around each other." Sai put on his fake smile and went back to eating his sandwich. His statement caused an awkward silence within the circle. Naruto and Sakura caught each other's gazes and quickly looked away. Thankfully Kakashi arrived a few moments later to save them.

"Okay, let's get moving again." The three ninja nodded and packed up their belongings before returning to their original set up. After a while the awkwardness faded and Sakura decided to strike up a conversation about something that had been on her mind for a while.

"Hey Naruto, have you noticed how Jiraiya and Tsunade-sensei act around each other?" Sakura asked coolly.

"Sort of. I mean, they talk to each other a lot, and Jiraiya-sensei acts differently around her." Naruto replied not realized what Sakura was hinting at.

"Would you say they might have feelings for each other?" Sakura continued.

Naruto paused for a second. "Wait what…oh you don't want to set them up do you?"

"Well, kind of. I mean it worked out so well with Ino and Shikamaru." She paused for a moment. "I don't know…I get the same feeling about those two as I did about Shiki and Ino. Almost like there are unannounced feelings between them. Also, did you see Tsunade-sensei blush after I commented on the amount of time she spends with Jiraiya?"

"Yes I did. I have a feeling your right but…"

"So it's agreed, we are setting up Tsunade and Jiraiya. This is perfect, both of our sensei, kind of odd actually." Sakura said with excitement.

"I don't know, I just made a breakthrough in my training and still have a lot of work ahead of me." Naruto sounded apologetic.

"That's okay I guess. I know how important your training is to you." Sakura replied with a forced yet sincere smile.

Naruto saw right through it though and could hear the disappointment in her voice. He thought for a second and then shrugged. "I guess will help you Sakura-chan, but before we do this I have one request."

"What is it?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Can you teach me how to do that hearing trick? My control has greatly improved ever since I've been implementing wind Chakra into my rasengan." Naruto pleaded while he clasped his hands together.

She thought for a second. "Oh all right. Besides, even if you had the same control as you did when we were kids you would get it, I'm sure you wouldn't stop trying until you succeeded." Sakura replied with a smile.

"Thank you Sakura-chan."

"Don't worry about it. I guess I will teach you how when we get into town. That way when we get back you can listen in on Jiraiya and Tsunade's date with me."

"Sounds like a plan." Naruto was grinning with excitement. He loved learning new techniques.

The team traveled for a couple more hours before reaching the town. Just as Kakashi had predicted the sun was setting just as they arrived. It cast a yellow orange glow over the village, creating an aura of pure serenity. The team walked into the village, taking in everything they saw. There were several buildings and food stands along the street, much like Konoha. There were people passing by them, each with their own agendas. Some were buying food, others were selling novelties, and a few were just wandering around aimlessly. The team walked until they reached a building with a sign that read _Autumn Inn _in gold lettering_. _It was a wide building recently painted a glossy white which made it partially reflect the rich orange and yellow glow from the setting sun.

"Okay, this is where we will be staying for the night." Kakashi said after he turned around to address the group.

"Wow, seems nice." Naruto commented.

"Well, the village covers mission expenses so why not." Kakashi winked at his team; causing everyone but Sai to smile. "Anyways, the plan is for Naruto and Sai to share a room and for Sakura and me to get our own rooms."

"How is that fair?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Well, Sakura is a girl, I am the superior officer, and you and Sai need to do some bonding." Kakashi gave him a thumb up.

"Sounds good to me." Sakura said playfully.

Naruto's mouth was gaping and his eyes were wide. "But, but…-"

"No buts about it Naruto." Sakura continued messing with him. "That is as long as Sai has no problem with it."

"Of course not, I like Naruto-kun." Sai said with a smile, real or fake no one knew.

"Ahhh, fine." Naruto threw his hands up in the air as he surrendered.

"Glad that's settled." Kakashi said with an over exaggerated smile. "Anyways, the reservations were made and paid for beforehand, so you can pick up your keys whenever you want. I myself am going to pick up our package. You three go get something to eat."

"Sounds good, let's go." Sakura took the lead. The team split up, Kakashi headed up towards the client while Sakura, Naruto, and Sai searched for food. "So what do you two want to eat?" Sakura asked while looking to all of the stands.

"RAMEN!" Naruto said excitedly as he pointed towards a stand with a big bowl of noodles painted on the front.

"Are you serious? We are in an unknown town with several new and exciting things to eat and you pick ramen?" Sakura asked.

"Well I already know I love the food, so now I have to try everyone's ramen to find the best."

"Well what about you Sai." Sakura turned to the boy hopefully.

"Ramen is fine with me." Sai replied indifferently.

"SHANNARO!" Sakura yelled, earning her a few stares. "Fine you two get ramen and I will look for something exotic and interesting." Sakura shot dirty looks at each of them before leaving to find something "exotic."

"Bye Sakura-chan." Naruto called. Sakura just shook him off and kept walking. "I didn't know you liked Ramen Sai."

"Well, I don't, but I don't care what I eat." Sai replied.

"Right…so let's get our food." Naruto said as he led the way towards the stand. They both were greeted by an old woman who took their orders. Unfortunately, the stand was designed for to go orders only, so Naruto had to guess the number of bowls he was planning to eat. Their food was ready after about thirty minutes because of the large order. Once they received their meals and paid the two teammates headed back to their room. Naruto was carrying six tubs of Ramen, while Sai had one. Before long they reached the hotel.

"Hello sir how can I help you." The receptionist asked with a pleasant tone.

"Yea I need to pick up my room key. The name should be Naruto."

"Let's see." She said, looking through a list of names. "Here it is room 8." She said handing Naruto the key."

"Thanks." He replied but then realized his hands were full. "Uh, Sai can you get that?"

"Oh sure." Sai grabbed the key with his free hand and lead the way. While Sai was walking towards the room Naruto hung back to ask the receptionist a question.

"You wouldn't happen to know which room Haruno Sakura is staying in would you. She is my teammate." Naruto was blushing slightly.

The receptionist smiled at seeing his blush. "She's in room 12, just down the hall."

"Thanks again." He said before catching up with Sai to avoid suspicion.

They entered the room a few moments later. Naruto immediately placed all of the tubs of ramen on a nearby table, being careful as to not spill one drop. Sai meanwhile took a seat and began eating.

Sai ate slowly relative to Naruto, but then again everyone did. He took his time, eating small groups of noodles while Naruto finished each of his tubs within minutes. Once he was done Naruto sat their awkwardly watching Sai eat.

"So Sai, what have you been up to lately." Naruto asked to break the silence.

"Nothing."

"Do anything fun?"

"Nope."

"Learn any new techniques?" Naruto asked desperately.

"Nope." Sai said, not even breaking away from his soup to make eye contact.

"Well then, I'm going out, bye." Naruto said quickly as he ran out the door.

"Bye." Sai said still without looking up from his soup.

"Well that was painful." Naruto said to himself once he was in the hall.

'Let's see, room twelve.' He thought as he made his way down the long corridor. Before long he reached the door with a 12 on it and knocked. 'Please be there.' He thought.

The door opened slowly to reveal a pink headed kunoichi. "Oh hey Naruto. Come in, I was just about to start my dinner." Sakura turned and headed into her room.

"Did you find anything "exotic"?" Naruto joked as he took in the room.

"Actually yes. I went to a stand filled with foreign food and asked for the most unique item." Sakura replied victoriously.

"Well what did he give you?" Naruto inquired, his curiosity growing.

"I don't know, something called escargot. Apparently it's popular in the Hidden Village of the Mist." Sakura said as she removed a box from the bag that was on the table. She grabbed her chopsticks and broke them apart excitedly. Sakura then opened the box ready to eat, but when she looked inside she froze.

"What's the matter Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked not being able to see inside the box.

Sakura's mouth opened and closed a few times. "I think it's…I think escargot is…snails." Sakura said disgusted.

"What?!" Naruto rushed over to look inside the box. "Oh that's gross, even for me."

"Well, I said I wanted to try new things right? Here it goes." Sakura said nervously as she grabbed up her chop sticks and picked up a snail.

"Sakura you don't have to eat that to prove a point." Naruto tried to stop her.

"No, I want to eat this." Sakura tried to convince both Naruto and herself. She opened her mouth and closed her eyes as she brought it closer, her hand shaking the entire time. Naruto meanwhile watched in suspense. She brought the snail close enough to touch her lips, but dropped it. "Nope, I can't do it, I can't eat a snail." She resolved closing the box and throwing it the trash.

"I don't blame you." Naruto added.

"Ugh, I'm so hungry." Sakura sighed. Naruto thought for a second. He reached around to touch his pack and realized he still had his Ichiraku's ramen.

"Sakura-chan, guess what I have. Food!" Naruto said as he pulled the tub out of his bag.

"You would have ramen." Sakura said a smile reappearing on her face.

"Of course I would, it's a vital part of my diet." He smiled. "Anyways, you can have it."

Naruto said as he handed the bowl to her.

"You sure? You do realize you are giving away ramen." Sakura joked.

"Yea I'm sure." Naruto nodded.

"Thanks." She said warmly as she grabbed her chops sticks and a spoon provided by Naruto and began devouring the soup.

"Wow, you even rival me in speed eating when you're hungry." Naruto joked with a smile.

"Well, I'm _really_ hungry." She said, taking a quick breather. "So I'm guessing you're here for the hearing technique." Sakura noted before returning to her soup.

"Oh, yea that's why." Naruto lied quickly. He actually came over because he wanted to see her and had forgotten about the technique entirely. "So what do I have to do?"

"Well, I will need to help you the first time, but for now just get in-tuned with your chakra to the point where you can feel it flowing through your body." She replied during another quick breather.

"Sounds easy." Naruto said, closing his eyes as he began focusing on the blue streams flowing through his body. He sat there for a few seconds. "Okay, now what?"

"Give me one second." Sakura replied as she got up to put the empty bowl in the sink and get in position. One she was behind Naruto she placed her hands, which were glowing green, on his back, stirring him out of his trance.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Naruto asked nervously while blushing, not that Sakura could see.

"Calm down, I just need to make sure you don't overdo it when you send your chakra to your ears." Sakura was blushing slightly as well. She couldn't help but notice how close they were. "So, this technique is just a smaller version of other common chakra techniques. For instance, when you jump you send chakra to your leg muscles in order to increase their power. The same idea can be applied to your ear drums. You know what I'm talking about?" She asked before continuing. Naruto nodded. "Okay, now send chakra to your ears, and I will help you channel it into your ear drums, just be sure not to send too much."

Naruto nodded and sent his chakra to his ears as ordered. Suddenly he felt it being redirected by an outside force. Sakura meanwhile was focusing, using a medical technique to send the chakra down different paths. Eventually she guided it towards his eardrum. "Okay, now open your eyes." She whispered.

Sakura whispered, but Naruto heard it as if it was normal volume. "Okay."

"Now, use selective hearing to listen to certain areas. Looking at the area you want to listen to will help until you get the hang of the technique."

Naruto looked towards her bathroom, focusing hard. "I think there is a bug crawling on your floor." Naruto said and Sakura smiled.

"Thanks for the heads up. Now, stop sending Chakra to your ears and I will release my jutsu." Sakura ordered. Naruto stopped, causing his super hearing to disappear. "Now that you know what it feels like, I want you to try and do it by yourself. I am going to go into the bathroom and say something with the door closed. Try and hear what it is." Sakura said in a normal volume.

"Okay." Naruto replied before focusing on controlling his chakra. He sent it to his ears, then into the ear drum. He then opened his eyes and looked towards the bathroom.

"Ramen." He heard clearly.

"You are saying ramen." Naruto called after releasing the jutsu.

Sakura flung the door open. "Wow Naruto that was really good, I wasn't expecting you to get it on the first try." Sakura admired.

"Well, I don't need a jutsu in order to hear someone say ramen." Naruto replied with a smile.

"I should have known." Sakura said after a spout of laughter.

"Well I better get going before Sai gets suspicious. Thank you for teaching me the jutsu." Naruto said as he opened the door.

"Thank you for the ramen. Good night Naruto." Sakura said softly.

"Good night Sakura-chan." Naruto called before closing the door.

Sakura sighed and shook her head, a warm smile appearing on her face as she headed to shower before bed. Naruto meanwhile headed down the hallway and silently entered his room so he wouldn't alert Sai. He closed the door and crept towards the bathroom, a feeling of success coming over him as he neared his goal.

"Hello Naruto-kun." Sai said as he turned on the light next to his bed.

"BAHH." Naruto yelled in surprise. "Geeze Sai, you can be so creepy sometimes." He sighed before heading into the bathroom.

"I am not familiar with the typical greeting when someone enters late at night."

"Well, you don't sit in bed and turn on a light to surprise them, especially when they are trying to be sneaky." Naruto called as he turned on the shower.

"I will remember that." Sai called. He sat there unmoving on his bed while Naruto showered. Naruto peaked out ten minutes later, dressed in his pajamas.

"Sai, you haven't moved since I showered…"

"I know, I thought it would polite for me to wait with the light on until you were ready for bed." Sai said with a smile.

"Well, you don't have to do that, but thanks…wait. Where's the other bed?!" Naruto asked a feeling of panic sweeping over him.

"I don't think there is one."

"WHAT?" Naruto cried as he pulled the cushions off the couch in hope that there was a pullout bed, but he was disappointed.

"It's fine Naruto-kun. You can share this bed with me, it's rather large."

"No, no, I will just sleep on the couch I guess."

"I don't believe that will work. You are too tall. If you don't get a good night sleep you will be tired during the return trip, which will hinder the team. It would be best if we shared this bed." Sai explained the situation logically.

Naruto sighed. Sai was right. He couldn't fit on the couch and he did need to be rested for tomorrow. "Fine. Damn cheap ass Kakashi…It's not even his money." Naruto mumbled to himself as he slipped into the bed. Sai meanwhile turned off the light. The room was dead quiet, only filled by the sound of the two boy's breathing. Naruto quickly adjusted to the bed and was about to drift off until Sai spoke.

"So how is Sakura's room?" He asked nonchalantly.

"How did you know I was there?" Naruto asked, instantly waking from his drowsy state.

"Where else would you be?"

"I could have been out and about exploring the village." Naruto offered.

"Yea, but you love her so it only makes sense."

"WHAT!?" Naruto instantly sat up in his bed, looking towards the dark space that Sai was occupying.

"You are in love with her right, or at least that's what it said in my books."

"What books!?"

"It's about human relationships, very informative." Sai said proudly. "It said that when a man loves women he is very nice to her and cares only about her happiness. Are you saying you don't love her?"

"I never said that." Naruto was pouting.

"So you do love her." Sai prodded.

Naruto sighed. 'I can believe I am about to talk to _him_ about this.' "Yes, I am in love with her, I have been ever since we were young. I don't know if she feels the same way though."

"I think she does, or at least she has feelings for you." Sai offered.

"I guess you would know huh." Naruto laughed to himself.

"Well, if I go by the book. She is very nice to you, unless your being and idiot, and she cares about you, or at least that is what I have seen."

"Let's hope your right Sai." Naruto sighed. "You know what, you understand people more than you get credit for, even if you are kind a creepy sometimes."

"Thank you Naruto-kun. We should get some sleep; we have to rise early tomorrow."

"Your right, good night Sai." Naruto said calmly. He thought about Sai's words. 'Maybe she does have feelings for me.' This thought put him in a tranquil state, resulting in him falling asleep almost instantly.

"Good night." Sai responded, happy that he could help and understand his teammates.

Around four A.M. Naruto and Sai's room was dead quiet besides the occasional sleep talking from Naruto. "You look so nice Sakura-chan." Naruto mumbled. "Yes I would like to go to dinner with-" SLAP.

"Oww! Who's there what huh." Naruto shot up. His head darted back and forth as he look around confused, searching for someone who would have presumably hit him in the face. Then he looked to his right and saw Sai's arm sprawled out over his pillow.

"Dammit Sai." Naruto said to himself as he rubbed his cheek. He laid back down, attempting to go back to sleep but it wasn't going to happen. He sat there thinking about his dream, Sakura, and all of the things he still needed to tell her. "Ugh. So much for getting more sleep." Naruto moaned as he got out of bed and left the room to clear his head. He exited the building and took in a deep breath filling his lungs with the fresh air. He looked up towards the sky and then to the roof. He looked at the roof a little longer before scaling the wall. Naruto always liked being in higher places, like on top of the Hokage's head back in Konoha. When he reached the top he saw something that caught him off guard. "Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing up here?"

"Hey Naruto, I'm just relaxing." Kakashi replied. The silver haired Jounin was sitting on the side of the building, allowing his feet to dangle over the edge.

"Relaxing? Shouldn't you be sleeping, we have to leave early tomorrow."

"Shouldn't _you_ be sleeping?" He shot back.

"Touché." Naruto shrugged his shoulders as he walked over to sit next to his captain. "So why are you relaxing at 4 a.m.?"

"When else would I? I like to go outside around this time to look at the forest, the streets, the sky, everything really. Besides, I slept for a good six hours before I came out here. You see, right now all of the party animals have passed out and the morning birds still haven't awakened which means it's just me out here without a care in the world. I'm kind of a lone wolf if you didn't know."

"Yeah I know, but when you put it that way it does sound nice."

"It is." Kakashi let out a calm sigh. "So, are thoughts of Sakura keeping you up?" He said nonchalantly.

"How do you know?" Naruto replied shocked that his feelings for the pink haired kunoichi are practically common knowledge.

"I've been your sensei since you were twelve, and you haven't changed in that aspect at all. You still have that same face." Kakashi was smiling.

"Yeah everyone seems to know. Even Sai does. Speaking of which, you really couldn't spring for two beds could you?"

"What are you talking about? I asked for a two bedroom." Kakashi replied shocked.

"Really?" Naruto was taken aback and felt a little guilt for doubting his sensei.

"Nope, that was a lie." Kakashi said with his face cool and collected.

"Bah, it would be." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Yes it would. So, what's on your mind specifically?" Kakashi asked while looking up towards the sky.

"Nothing really. I guess I was just trying to figure out if Sakura has feelings for me. I want to tell her how I feel, but I also want it to be perfect." Naruto sighed.

"Well her having feelings for you never stopped you before."

"Yea, I mean it's not stopping me from telling her or anything."

"So the problem is you just want it to be perfect?" Kakashi asked, looking towards the blonde.

"Yea I guess. You have any suggestions?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"What!? Who said I was giving advice?" Kakashi asked incredulously. "Naruto, I am the last person who you should ask about anything romantic. You would be better off with one of my Icha Icha paradises. I mean, I haven't even had a girlfriend in a long time."

"I never really thought of that. Why not?"

"I just don't like to get attached to people." Kakashi replied, his face showing no emotion. Meanwhile thoughts of Obito and Rin were running through his mind. Those same thoughts were what went through his mind on most nights like this.

"What about us?" Naruto replied, referring to him, Sakura, and Saskue.

"You three were the exception. I knew you three were strong enough to get through anything so I didn't have to worry about losing you."

"Yea we were quite the team huh?" Naruto replied with a nostalgic smile. "Everything was so much easier back then."

"Yes it was. You could tell Sakura you loved her several times without any consequences, besides the occasional punch to the face." Kakashi replied with a slight laugh.

"Yea, and now it's so much more meaningful, which is why I want it to be perfect. Ugh, this has been weighing on my mind for the past month." Naruto groaned. Kakashi meanwhile nodded in understanding. Naruto looked up to the sky, studying each star while letting out a sigh of relief. "Your right, it is rather peaceful out here." Naruto watched the trees sway, the stars glow, and felt the wind blowing by him. It seemed as if the wind was carrying his problems away. "Let's just enjoy it." He said as he leaned forward onto his hands. Kakashi nodded once again in order to communicate without breaking the tranquil silence.

The pair sat out there in silence for another hour. When it was around six Naruto headed back to his room so that Sai wouldn't wake up to find him suspiciously missing. He crept down the hallway, slipped in through the door and slid into bed. Kakashi meanwhile stayed on the roof and began preparing for the teams departure.

The next morning Naruto and Sakura stood outside of the hotel while Kakashi and Sai were finalizing the teams check out. Sakura remembered that Naruto had to share a room with the pale boy and couldn't help but mess with him.

"Sooo, how was sharing a room with Sai." She said playfully.

"Honestly, it was enjoyable." Naruto replied after thinking for a second.

"Really?" Sakura asked surprised.

"Really. He understands us a lot more then we give him credit." Naruto commented.

"Huh, who would have thought?"

"Yea." Naruto sighed. "Oh but he is a violent sleeper. If I didn't have enhanced regeneration I would still have a bruised face."

A puzzled look appeared on Sakura's face. "Wait… Does that mean you shared a-"

"Okay lets head out." Kakashi cut in as he and Sai exited the hotel.

The team returned back to Konoha alert and ready for anything. Luckily they reached the giant gates of the village without any conflict. As it turns out, a group of ANBU intercepted a band of grass ninjas and defeated them. Those grass ninjas were hired to steal the item that team seven was assigned to retrieve. So all in all, this mission would be considered "boring" by Naruto's standards.

"So Naruto, why aren't you complaining about this mission?" Kakashi inquired after they entered the front gate.

"Actually, I enjoyed this mission." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Well that's good and surprising. Anyways, I will see you all later; I have to go to the Hokage with this." Kakashi gestured towards the item before turning into a puff of smoke.

"So Naruto, do you want to eat while planning our Tsunade and Jiraiya set up?" Sakura suggested.

"Sure. Ramen right?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Fine." Sakura sighed defeat.

"YAY." Naruto yelled. "Hey Sai, you want to get…" Naruto turned around to talk to his teammate, but observed that he had already disappeared. "Well, never mind then." He turned around with a smile.

"He moves fast." Sakura commented.

"Yep, kind of like Kakashi." Naruto paused as he thought of his teammate. "Anyways, let's get some ramen, I'm starving. I can't believe Kakashi didn't let us eat dinner!"

"I figured you would be upset about that. Anyways, lead the way." Sakura said with a smile.

End of Chapter.

Well that was a relatively long chapter relative to the rest of the fan fic. Hope you liked it. I was thinking about putting a fighting scene in, but I opted not to since this is supposed to be romance/comedy and it was already decent in length. Anyways, review it if you have anything you would like to add or if you are enjoying the story. I know I said this chapter would take about a week but I've been really busy with school and a week morphed into a month. Anyways, sorry about the wait, hopefully I can get the next one out faster.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"So we agree that we are going to set up Tsunade and Jiayra?" Sakura said before she took a sip of her water.

Naruto put his ramen bowl down and took in a deep breath. "Yes we are agreed." Luckily the ramen stand was empty, so it was only him and Sakura talking about such an odd topic.

"Okay then." Sakura replied with a smile. "Now we can talk details." Sakura looked down at check list she had made. "Okay first off, where are we going to set them up?" They both paused for a second then looked at each other.

"A bar." The two ninja said at the exact same time.

"Well that does sound like them, but how are we going to get them both to take us to a bar?" Sakura sighed.

"That's easy, for me at least. Ero-sennin will get me into anything. One time he even offered to get me into a brothel."

"You refused right." Sakura eyed Naruto intently.

"Of course I did. What would make you ask such a thing?" Naruto replied incredulously.

"Oh I don't know, how about the fact you invented a technique called "sexy jutsu." Sakura shot back.

"I told you, it's used for tactical purposes." Naruto begged.

"I wish I could believe you. You know what I will do to you if you become a pervert right?" Sakura asked coolly. Naruto swallowed loudly then nodded. "Good." Sakura smiled, not able to hold it back anymore. "Anyways, there is still a problem on my end. Tsunade is very strict when it comes to me drinking." Sakura noted.

"Really? I see her drinking all of the time; she even has a secret compartment in her desk where she stores sake." Naruto offered.

"Yeah I know, I guess she doesn't want me to go down that path. The only way she would take me to a bar is if I did something really impressive, like learning some new high level technique."

"Well what technique are you learning right now?"

"I'm learning the…" Sakura's eyes widened. "That's it! If I can master the summoning technique to the point where I can call Katsuyu Tsunade might be willing to take me to a bar. The best part is, I know someone who can already summon at a boss level." Sakura looked to Naruto.

"Well I can try, but I will warn you I'm not the best teacher." Naruto replied while scratching the back of his head.

"It's all we got so I guess we will just have to make it work." Sakura gave him a reassuring smile. "So, assuming I learn the technique I will get Tsunade to take me to the Lucky Leaf as a reward. You will just ask Jiayra to take you. Next, we need an evacuation plan."

"Yea, the 'Hokage needs to see us' plan won't really work this time will it?" Naruto joked.

Sakura smiled. "Yea not this time."

The two sat there in silence for a minute before Sakura had an idea. "Well, since we are in a bar, we could have a few cups of Sake each. Then we say we don't feel too well and just excuse ourselves. It would make sense since we are both inexperienced drinkers."

"Sounds like it will work I guess." Naruto nodded in consent.

The two friends sat there for another thirty minutes discussing some of the more finite details like when they were meeting, how they were going to arrive, and what do to do in order to get back into the bar to spy. Once all of the details were covered they paid Ayame for their meals and prepared to depart.

"Okay, so I will see you tomorrow at eight?" Naruto asked once they were out of the stand.

"Yes, tomorrow at eight at our old training ground." Sakura clarified.

"Sounds good. Well, see you then. Bye Sakura-chan."

"Goodbye Naruto." Sakura replied. They waved to each other and went their separate ways.

Naruto woke up the next morning around seven and left his apartment fifteen minutes later. He ran to the training ground and began his normal warm up of pushups, sit ups, pull-ups, and a five mile run. He knew he really didn't need to be there that early or warm up for that matter, but he couldn't contain his excitement. He was about to spend some more quality time with Sakura, which just the thought of got Naruto pumped.

He was returning to the training ground from his run when he saw a pink haired ninja leaning against the same log he was tied to back when they were gennin. "Heya Sakura-chan!" He yelled while waving.

"Oh there you are Naruto. I was wondering where you were." Sakura replied as she placed a basket down in between two of the logs.

"Yeah sorry about that, I was just doing my warm-up." He apologized.

"Oh that's fine, don't worry about it. So did you eat breakfast?"

"Yeah I had some instant ramen."

"Go figure. Well I picked up some ramen from ichiraku's. I guess we can eat it for lunch. Still, I can't believe that stand is open this early. Who eats ramen at this time of the day besides you?" Sakura joked with a smile.

"No one really. The old man opens up just for me." Naruto replied with a look of nostalgia.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's where I would always eat breakfast when I was younger."

"Well that's nice of him." Sakura commented. Naruto nodded in agreement. "So anyways, enough about ramen, let's get started."

"Okay…let's see… I guess go ahead and attempt to summon Katsuyu and I'll watch." Naruto decided.

"Well okay, but you better not laugh at me." Sakura pointed at him.

"Don't worry I won't. Just do your best." Naruto reassured her.

"Here it goes." Sakura sighed as she took off her left glove. She then bit her exposed thumb and performed the seals. "Summoning jutsu." She yelled, causing a puff of smoke to appear around the ground where she slammed her hand.

Once the dust cleared Sakura could be seen with a slug that fit in the palm of her hand. Naruto noticed this and smiled.

"Hello again Sakura-san." The little slug called.

"Hello." The pink haired kunoichi replied with a hint of exasperation. She then looked to see Naruto's reaction. "See you are laughing at me." Sakura pouted.

"No I'm not I promise. I'm just smiling because you are just like me when I started the summoning technique. All I could conjure were tadpoles."

"Well then how did you learn?" Sakura asked hopefully.

Naruto thought back for a moment and the longer he pondered the question the grimmer his expression became.

"Naruto are you okay?" Sakura asked seeing the frightened look on his face.

"Oh yea I'm fine." Naruto snapped out of his trance. "Well, we won't be using the method that used to learn how to summon."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to risk you dying." Sakura had a puzzled look on her face. "Let's just say the way Jiayra taught me involved a cliff and a shove."

"You mean he pushed you off a cliff!" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Basically." Naruto responded with a nervous smile. He then thought for a few moments. "Now that I think about it, the way I learned to summon Gamabunta was being put into life or death situations. The first was being pushed off the cliff, and the second was when Gara was about to kill you…" Naruto faded off. "So in other words, if you can remember what it feels like to be in those extreme situations you might be able to find that extra push you need to summon a boss level creature."

"Okay, but do you think you can summon Gamabunta so I can't get a general idea of the chakra level I need?" Sakura asked hopefully. She had always wondered what the toad boss looked like.

"I guess, but he really doesn't like me summoning him unless it's a serious situation. So if he's a little grumpy just ignore it." Naruto was slightly embarrassed that he had such little control over his summon.

The blonde let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. Mentally he was returning to feelings he had when Sakura was on the verge of death. After a few moments he bit his left thumb and performed the hand seals. "Summoning Jutsu!" He yelled and a giant cloud of dust appeared.

Sakura shielded her face from the shockwave. She waited in anticipation for the dust could to clear and when it did she was almost speechless. "Wow." Was the only word she managed to say.

"Why did you summon me, there's no battle here." Gamabunta growled before taking a deep breath in through his pipe.

"Sorry Gamabunta, I was just showing Sakura-chan how much chakra is required to summon a boss level creature." Naruto begged.

Gamabunta recalled the name Sakura. He thought back to the battle with the Biju. He remembered his son telling him that Sakura-chan was Naruto's 'girlfriend.' "Well don't do it again." He growled, deciding not to embarrass Naruto too badly.

"Okay?" Naruto asked puzzled. Gamabunta nodded and then returned to his home without another word. "Well I got off easy." Naruto commented.

"Naruto that was amazing. I don't think I can even conjure up that much Chakra."

"Well, when you put your mind in a dramatic situation, you can do just about anything." He replied, slightly blushing at the admiration the girl of his dreams was holding him with. "Anyways, go ahead and try it. Just think of a time when you were placed into a life or death situation and channel those feelings into your chakra."

"Okay here it goes." Sakura replied with a hint of doubt in her abilities. She began searching through her more recent memories. She decided to go with one that occurred at the hospital. It was a patient who was going to bleed out of she didn't suture her jugular within a minute. She channeled those feelings of stress, fear, and anxiety into her chakra and performed the technique. "Summoning technique." She yelled as she slammed her palm into the ground.

A dust cloud appeared bigger than Sakura's first attempt but not boss sized. When it cleared Naruto saw a blue and black slug about as tall as him. "Hello, you must be Sakura, Tsunade –himie's apprentice. I am Satsuga, the fifth ranking of the slugs." The slug performed an awkward bow.

"It is nice to meet you. Sorry for disturbing you, I am just training so that I can reach the level to summon Katsuyu." Sakura sighed in disappointment.

"Well don't be upset. By the way Tsunade-himie talks about you I am sure you will summon Katsuyu-sensei in no time. Good bye then." The slugged bowed once again and disappeared into a dust cloud. Sakura couldn't help but smile at the creature's words.

"That was very good Sakura-chan. You went from summing a little slug to the fifth raked in one attempt." Naruto gave her a thumb up and a smile. "Just out of curiosity though, what memory did you choose?"

"It was a time when I needed to perform a procedure on a patent or else she would have died." Sakura replied.

"Oh." Naruto frowned slightly. "It would be easier if the life or death situation involved someone close to you or yourself. My first boss summon was for my own life and the second was for yours."

"Okay. Well I don't know if I have any of those kinds of memories."

"Unfortunately I am sure you do, it comes with being a ninja." Naruto replied confidently.

"Well before I try I need to get some chakra pills so I don't get too exhausted." Sakura said as she jogged over to her bag and pulled out three brown pills and ate them in one go. "Okay I'm ready." She said once she returned to their part of the training grounds.

"Always prepared." Naruto commented.

"Believe it." Sakura joked while giving him a thumb up causing her and Naruto to laugh. "Okay so here it goes."

Sakura searched her memory all the way back to when she was a gennin. She entered a deep trance as she went through each event until she reached the second test of the chunnin exams. She remembered distinctly facing three sound ninja while trying to protect Naruto and Saskue. Sakura began to remember those feelings all at once to the point where it almost overwhelmed her. She felt fear primarily, fear of losing her own life and more importantly fear of losing her two teammate's lives. Her trance deepened as she remembered every exact detail. The forest, the grass, the way each sound ninja looked, everything. She felt as though she was really there and the summoning technique would protect her teammates. "I won't let you hurt Naruto or Saskue." She said intensely. Those words grabbed Naruto's attention. "Summoning technique!" Sakura yelled.

A giant dust cloud appeared followed by a shockwave. Naruto jumped back and shielded his eyes. He couldn't help but smile because he knew Sakura succeeded. Soon enough the dust cloud cleared and Naruto searched for Sakura. He found her, right on top of a giant slug that was about the same size as Gamabunta. Sakura wore a giant grin as she looked at Naruto.

"Great job Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled from the ground.

"I finally did it." Sakura called out with glee.

"Hello Sakura, congratulations on summoning me. I am sure Tsunade-himie will be pleased." Katsuyu commented.

"She better be." Sakura replied.

"Oh would look at that, it's Naruto-kun. You've grown so much." Katsuyu said as she looked to the blonde.

"Nice to see you again Katsuyu. I guess you look the same." Naruto replied with nervous smile.

"You two met before?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Once, I saw her when I went with Ero-sennin to retrieve Tsunade-Bachaan for the Hokage position."

"Yes and you save Tsunade-himie's life." Katsuyu said nostalgically. "In many ways."

"And she saved mine, in one way I guess."

"Well if that is all, I need to return to my world. I have some business to attend to." Katsuyu said.

"That's all." Sakura said still smiling.

"Well, goodbye then Sakura-san, Naruto-kun." Katsuyu bowed her head and the turned into a cloud of smoke.

Sakura jumped off the slugs head before it disappeared and made a smooth landing on the ground. She was about to stand straight up but she felt a sudden wave of exhaustion overcome her. It felt as if the wind was knocked out of her and she hadn't slept in ages. She slowly closed her eyes and began falling backwards but right before she hit the ground a pair of strong arms caught her. "Looks like you over did it." Naruto commented above her with a smile.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes. "Yea just like you usually do." Sakura replied with a smile.

"You got me there." Naruto admitted in defeat. "Let's get you by logs." Naruto said as he picked up Sakura bridal style. It was slightly awkward considering the twos "situation" but they made it. Naruto reached the three logs and sat her up against the middle one. Once she was settled he sat against one of the outside ones. "You know what the best cure for exhaustion is? Ramen." Naruto exclaimed as he picked out the two tubs from Sakura's basket. "And to make it ever better, Chakra pills." Naruto continued as he picked up the last three brown pills and placed them in the soup.

"So is this like your secret recipe?" Sakura joked.

"No, I just made it up on the spot. Am I talented or what?" He replied also joking.

Sakura smiled and began eating her soup. Once she began eating Naruto joined, taking a little more time than usual, but Sakura was too tired to notice.

Sakura decided to take a break from eating to talk about something Katsuyu said. "So, what did Katsuyu mean when she said you saved Tsunade's life in many ways?"

Naruto swallowed the big clump of noodles in his mouth. "It was just a fight, nothing really. Kabuto had cut a few of her muscles with this chakra scalpel technique so she couldn't move. He was about to finish her off but I hit him with a rasengan." Naruto finished and began eating more noodles.

"But what were the other ways you saved her?" Sakura continued.

"I have no idea what she meant by that." Naruto replied after swallowing his next cluster of noodles. Sakura nodded and went back to eating. Meanwhile Naruto had already finished. During this time he was deciphering whether or not to tell Sakura how he felt. Right now they were in the place where they spent a lot of their time together when they were younger. It is where they first became a team. It just felt like telling her here would make it all full circle. After a short debate and a little self pep talk he went to tell her.

"Uhh Sakura I have something I need to tell you." Naruto said nervously. His entire body was shaking and his heart felt like it was about to pop out of his chest.

"What is it Naruto?" Sakura asked unexpectedly.

Naruto looked into her eyes which captivated him as always. Those emerald orbs hadn't changed even from when they were gennin. Every time he looked into them he felt happy. They were so full of life, joy, and strength. The longer he looked into her eyes the more he wanted to tell her. "I…" He sighed. "I-"

"What's up dobe, Sakura." A familiar voice called from their left. Both Naruto and Sakura's head turned to face it.

"Hey Saskue-teme." Naruto shot back slightly angered that he had interrupted his confession.

"Hello Saskue. What are you doing here?" Sakura called.

"We are about to start training." Kakashi chimed in as he appeared. "What are you two doing? I hope were not interrupting." Kakashi prodded.

"Oh no, I was just helping Sakura master the summoning technique." Naruto replied as to not make Sakura feel awkward.

"Yeah it's no problem; I needed to go talk to Tsunade-sensei anyways." Sakura said as she stood up, Naruto's soup combination had helped her recover quickly. "Oh yea, what did you need to tell me Naruto?" Sakura turned to him.

"Oh nothing, don't worry about it." Naruto replied shaking his head rapidly.

"Okay then, I guess I'm off. Don't forget our plan Naruto." Sakura reminded him.

"Don't worry." Naruto reassured her.

"Well then, bye everyone." Sakura waved as she headed down the path into town.

"Bye Sakura-chan." Naruto called while Kakashi and Saskue just waved silently.

Once the Kunoichi was out of earshot Kakashi spoke to Naruto. "You were about to tell her weren't you."

"WHAT, how did you know?" Naruto asked in disbelief. There was no way he could be read _this _easily.

"Well, after asking that question your face is beet red, you were shaking when we walked up here, not to mention you sounded like you were pissed when you called Saskue a teme, you were alone, and it just seemed "perfect" by your standards." Kakashi summed up everything he observed.

"Well, when you put it like that it seems obvious."

"Only to the trained eye. I wasn't sure if I was right, but if I was wrong no one would care. At least this way I look like a badass." Kakashi joked.

"So, I interrupted you confession to Sakura?" Saskue asked.

"Yes you did teme." Naruto pouted.

"Just tell her whenever you see her again. I think you have a good shot. She already told me that she didn't have feelings for me anymore." Saskue replied indifferently.

"She did? When?" Naruto's head perked right up.

"She visited me in the jail cell one time without you."

"What did she say?" Naruto prodded.

Saskue sighed. "I guess I am obligated to tell you. Well she came in and said…"

_Flashback_

"_Hello Saskue." Sakura nodded as she sat down on the visitor's bench. The team was still a little awkward around each other, but Sakura wasn't going to let that stop her._

"_Hello." Saskue said calmly._

"_Well, I guess I better come out and just say it. The reason I'm here is to apologize." Saskue looked confused but Sakura continued anyways. "When we were younger I would always tell you that I loved you and I would follow you and a lot of other things. I was a young girl who though she was in love. The truth is I was in love with what I wanted you to be. I created this vision of a prince charming in my head and pretended it was you. I just wanted to let you know I am sorry for that; it was like I was holding you to something. I grew up though and realized that I wasn't truly in love with you. I just want to let you know though, that I will always care about you as a teammate, Naruto and I both." Sakura let out a sigh of relief._

"_Sakura, you don't have to apologize for any of that. The truth is I need to apologize. I can't imagine what pain I put you and Naruto through. Seeing your teammate walk down such a dangerous path…well just know that I am sorry. Please tell Naruto that."_

"_I will. Goodbye Saskue, I have to go back to the hospital. It feels good to get that off my chest." Sakura said as she stood up._

"_Goodbye Sakura."_

_After that the conversations between team seven were no longer awkward. Everything that needed to be said was said._

_End of Flashback_

…and that's what happened." Saskue finished his story and when back to his warm up.

"Really? I had no idea." Naruto was surprised to say the least.

"Yep." Saskue said.

Naruto thought for a few more minutes before standing up. "Well, I still want to wait for a good time to tell her. Anyways, I am going to go train, Jiayra is waiting for me." After he said this he waved good bye and headed to his training ground.

"So what's Naruto's and Sakura's "plan?" Saskue asked out of curiosity after overhearing them.

"You don't what to know." Kakashi shook his head. 'I hope they don't try to pull that stuff on me.' That thought caused the silver haired Jounin to cringe.

Meanwhile, Sakura had just arrived and knocked on the big red doors that guarded the Hokage's office.

"Come in." Tsunade called from the other side. "Oh hello Sakura what brings you here? It is your day off you know." Tsunade joked. Sakura rarely missed work; if she did it was for some kind of sickness, never for vacation days.

"Where's Jiayra?" Sakura asked almost by reflex.

"He's training with Naruto. Besides, it's not like he's always here." Tsunade defended. "So what do you need?"

"Oh I have some big news." Sakura paused for dramatic effect. "I summoned Katsuyu!"

A big smile appeared on Tsunade's face. "Wow that was fast. It took me a whole month to learn it, but I guess you were always going to surpass me." Tsunade said with pride in her student.

"I don't know about that."

"Don't be so modest. You already almost match me in medical nin skills and I'm an undisclosed amount of years older than you." Tsunade smiled.

"If you say so sensei." Sakura smiled with pride.

So what do you want to do to celebrate? This is a big deal after all."

"Well, I was hoping you could take me to a…uh…bar." Sakura asked nervously.

Tsunade eyed her student with suspicion. "You're not going to become a drunk like me are you?"

"No no no, I just wanted to see what it's like is all." Sakura replied quickly.

"Well I guess. Do you have anything in mind?"

"I was thinking the Lucky Leaf, tomorrow around seven?"

"Wow you really planned this out. Let me check my schedule real quick." Tsunade looked through a stack of papers. "Yea tomorrow at seven will work."

"Sounds good Tsunade-_himie_."

"I guess you heard the slugs call me that huh?" Tsunade asked with a smile.

"Yes that's what they all called you."

"Yea, the slug princess, not a very endearing nickname." Both Sakura and Tsunade laughed. "So, is there anything thing else?"

Sakura thought for a moment. She could not get what Katsuyu had said out of her mind. "Well one thing. Katsuyu said that Naruto save your life in more than one way back when you first met. I know he saved you from Kabuto, but how else did he save you?"

A nostalgic smile appeared on Tsunade's face. "It's a long story." Tsuande warned.

"It's okay; if I don't find out I will be wondering for a long time."

"Well, before you knew me I was wandering around running away from my past with Shizune. We would go from town to town gambling and drinking all of our money away. Well, I did most of the drinking and gambling but that's not the point. Anyways when Jiayra approached me with the offer to become Hokage I rejected because of Dan and my little brother, you know about them, who both had dreams of becoming Hokage but were killed before they ever reached it. I took out my rage and depression on the position itself, but then during the fight with Orochimaru, Naruto showed me something. His inability to give up or quit, the way he desired to become Hokage made me realize that living in the past isn't what Dan or my brother would want. They would want me to continue their dreams and become Hokage. So, I guess he saved me because he inspired me and pulled me from my dreary cycle of drinking and gambling. That's not to say I still don't participate in those activities, but now I have a purpose." Tsunade paused and sighed for a moment. "That boy can change people, it's an amazing quality. If you think about it, if it weren't for him saving me, I wouldn't be Hokage, you wouldn't be a medical nin, and Saskue would still have damage from that illusion." Tsunade paused again. "He's like a son to me. Or a grandchild I guess." Tsunade laughed.

"Wow, I never thought of that." Sakura said slightly shocked.

"Yep. Well, I have to get back to work; I didn't realize how much time I wasted with my story." Tsunade's tone instantly changed back to business.

"Thank you for telling me." Sakura bowed. "Goodbye Tsunade-sensei."

"Goodbye Sakura."

"So, I was wondering if you could take me to a bar tomorrow?" Naruto asked before he started his training with Jiayra.

"Sure." Jiayra replied indifferently.

"Great, I was thinking tomorrow around seven at the Lucky Leaf."

"Oooooow, tomorrow at seven?" Jiayra sounded as if he were in pain. "Tomorrow is Saturday and seven is when all of cute single girls go dancing in their skimpy dresses." A bit of drool began form at the side of the pervert's mouth.

"Well, tomorrow is the only time I can repay my favor to you. Which means tomorrow is the only time I will pay for your drinks." Naruto used his trump card.

"Hmm. Well I do drink a lot and it can get pretty expensive. Oh all right I guess." Jiayra surrendered. "But." Naruto sighed at that terrible word. "In exchange for going drinking tomorrow, we are going to have an _extra intense_ training session today." Jiayra had an almost evil smile spread across his face.

"Crap." Naruto muttered in fear.

End of Chapter

About the whole "Believe it" joke just in case you weren't sure what it was referring to. I have seen a few English Dubs of the Anime (Not sure if they translated it like that in the subs, which are better btw) and whenever Naruto talked about his goals he would finish with those words. For instance "I'm going to be Hokage one day, Believe it!" That's what Sakura was supposed to be playfully mocking. About the next chapter, it is going to be Tsunade and Jiayra's "Date." I have lots of time now that Christmas break has started so it shouldn't take that long (I know I always say that). But I am really looking forward to writing this chapter. Before I even started this story I made a list of jokes to go along with this scene. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review if you like how the stories going or if you have any criticism.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Ooooooh." Jiraiya moaned as he gawked at another twenty year old girl passing by. "I can't believe I am missing all of this," He gestured to all of the young pretty women in the street. "Just to go drinking with _you_." He pointed to Naruto.

"Well there's no use in complaining about it. Not to mention, none of these girls would ever have anything to do with an old pervert like you." Naruto shot back, slightly annoyed at Jiraiya's constant complaining.

"Like you would know. I've charmed my way into many a women's heart." Jiraiya replied confidently while waving his pointer finger around.

"Yeah just so you know, those girls at brothels are paid to like you."

"Whatever, let's just hurry up and get to the bar. I need to drink my sorrows away." Jiraiya resolved as he gawked at another girl and sighed.

The two continued their trip in silence. It was dark out but the moon, the streetlights, and the glowing signs upon all of the buildings lit the town up like a Christmas tree. The streets were filled with teens roaming around and going to clubs. Occasionally there were a few that just hung out on random corners. Naruto and Jiraiya were some of the select few heading to a bar. Before long they reached a particular sign with a bright green leaf wrapped around a bottle. They entered through the two tall wooden doors and were met by a hostess who was young and pretty.

The women looked over Naruto and Jiraiya before speaking. "Sorry sir, but the law is you must be over eighteen to enter a bar. I am afraid I cannot allow your son to enter."

"It's okay. I am Jiraiya, the legendary sennin. I saved the life of the man who owns this bar on more than one occasions, I am sure he won't mind."

"I am sorry sir but it's the law." The Hostess replied unmoving.

"You can go ask him and he will say yes, or you can say no so I can ditch the kid then you and I can go get a few drinks together." Jiraiya leaned against the podium the hostess was behind.

A nervous look appeared on the hostess's face. "No no no, its fine. You two go right ahead." She said quickly while gesturing towards the interior of the restaurant.

"Thank you." Jiraiya took a few steps into the bar but stopped and turned around. "You know the offer still stands."

"No I am fine." The women reaffirmed.

"Let's go lover boy." Naruto pulled the back of the sannin's shirt and led him to a table. The bar was about half full. There were a few civilians and ninjas scattered throughout the establishment. On one side there was a long counter behind which a bartender was serving drinks to people sitting on stools. The rest of the bar consisted of dimly lit round tables that sat about four people each. Naruto picked one in the middle so that it would be easy for Sakura and Tsunade to spot them.

"I told you I have some charm." Jiraiya said as he sat down next to Naruto.

Naruto gave him a confused look. "You're hopeless." He sighed.

"Hey I got her to let you in the bar didn't I?"

"Well it wasn't your "charm." Naruto made air quotes.

Jiraiya was about to respond but another pretty woman interrupted them. "Hi, I'm your waitress Jade, what can I get you two?"

"Let's have two bottles of Sake to start out with." Jiraiya ordered.

"Okay, anything else?" Jade asked as she mentally noted the order.

"That's it, unless you wana join me for a drink sometime." Jiraiya turned his "charm" back on.

"Sorry sir, but I can't drink with customers. I will be back with your order." The waitress turned and quickly walked off.

"Geeze, do you hit on everything that moves?" Naruto said.

"Anything that moves and looks like her." Jiraiya replied as he watched the waitress walk away.

"Once again, hopeless." Naruto said with exasperation. Jiraiya just shrugged his shoulders in response. 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. If he hits on women while here with Tsunade it will be a catastrophe.' Naruto worried. That thought reminded him that Tsunade and Sakura should be arriving any moment now. He looked up to check and sure enough he saw Tsunade talking to the hostess who let her and Sakura right in.

"Well, look who's here. Small world huh." Tsunade said as she approached Naruto and Jiraiya's table.

"Why hello Tsunade, Sakura." Jiraiya said as he leaned back in his chair.

"Would you two like to join us?" Naruto asked.

"It's up to Sakura; it's her day after all." Tsunade turned to the pink haired ninja.

"Yea that would be great." Sakura replied with a smile. With that the two medical nins pulled up chairs. Sakura was across from Naruto and Tsunade was across from Jiraiya.

"So did the hostess give you much trouble about letting a minor in the bar?" Jiraiya asked as he pointed to Sakura.

"Nope, she recognized me as the Hokage and let both of us right in, no questions asked."

Naruto began laughing. "Go figure. Ero-sennin tried to drop his name but he ended up having to creep out the hostess to get us in."

"I did no such thing. I just charmed my way in." Jiraiya defended.

"So in other words you creeped her out." Tsunade replied playfully.

Jiraiya frowned. "I need that Sake." Just as he finished his statement the waitress arrived with two bottles and two smaller shot glasses.

"Oh, and what can I get the two ladies?"

"We will also have two bottles of Sake." Tsunade ordered.

"Okay. I will be right back." The waitress left and returned within a minute placing the bottles and glasses on the table.

"Thank you." Tsunade nodded.

"I will be around if you need anything else." Jade said then went around to the other tables.

"Well, I didn't know Sakura was a drinker." Jiraiya commented before pouring his first glass of Sake.

"I'm not." Sakura replied.

"We are just celebrating because Sakura summoned Katsuyu, which I heard you helped with Naruto." Tsunade also poured her first glass and Sakura followed suit.

"Well I didn't do much. Sakura-chan was always good at learning techniques fast. I just told her some of the things that Jiraiya did to help me learn." Naruto began pouring his first glass seeing as he was the only who hadn't.

At hearing Naruto's words Jiraiya's eyes widened. He leaned over to discreetly talk to Naruto. "Hey, you didn't use _our_ method did you?" Jiraiya whispered nervously.

"No of course not."

"Good, because if you did and Tsunade found out…well let's just say it wouldn't be pretty."

"Something wrong?" Tsunade asked.

"No its nothing, were fine. So, let's have our first drink." Jiraiya quickly changed the topic.

Immediately Jiraiya and Tsunade picked up their glasses and took in the liquor slowly. As they put down their glasses they both let out sighs of relief. "Goes down smoothly." Tsunade commented and Jiraiya nodded in agreement.

Sakura and Naruto looked at each other then picked up their glasses. Sakura nodded and they both threw back their drinks. Sakura immediately began coughing as she placed the glass down and covered her mouth. Meanwhile Naruto's eyes widened as he wheezed. "Blrrrrrrr." He shook his head back and forth rapidly. "Goes down smoothly my ass." Naruto said, the burning feeling in his throat resonating.

"Seriously. How can this be considered enjoyable?" Sakura said rubbing her throat.

Their reactions caused both Jiraiya and Tsunade to smile. "You get used to it." Tsunade said laughing slightly. The four of them began pouring another glass.

"So Naruto, I hope you don't plan on becoming a drunk. If you do-"Tsunade was cut off.

"You will get Sakura-chan to beat me up I know." Naruto replied with a smile.

"Now you're catching on." Sakura said also smiling.

"Wow Naruto, your whipped and you're not even in a relationship." Jiraiya laughed as he mimed cracking a whip.

"Your one to talk. Just the thought of Tsunade finding you on one of your perverted escapades makes you shake."

"That's because broken bones hurt." Jiraiya defended.

"Wuss."

"Let's face it, both of you are whipped." Tsunade commented.

"I'll drink to that." Jiraiya exclaimed as he took his shot. Tsunade followed suit while Naruto and Sakura sighed. They both picked up their glasses and hesitantly drank its contents. The same reaction occurred. Sakura coughed while Naruto wheezed. The four refilled their drinks once more.

"So, about another shot and you two should feel a little inebriated." Tsunade said looking to Naruto and Sakura.

"What about you two?" Naruto asked.

"We are experienced drinkers. We still have at least four more shots until we get a little tipsy." Jiraiya responded with pride.

"I'm not sure that's a good thing." Sakura speculated.

"Probably not." Tsunade said with a smile. "Drink up anyways."

Sakura decided it was time to get out. She placed her hand over her stomach and partially slouched over. "I don't know. I don't think that Sake is sitting very well with me."

"Me either." Naruto said as he rubbed his forehead.

"Yea, I think it's best for me to head home and lay down for a bit." Sakura resolved.

"Well I guess I better go with you." Tsunade offered.

"No its fine, I will take her back then head to my apartment. You two just finish your drinks." Naruto said as he and Sakura both stood up.

"Hey, you aren't trying to skip out on the bill are you?" Jiraiya asked suspiciously.

"No, of course not." Naruto replied nervously. He had actually hoped to get out of paying the bill. "Just tell me how much you spent and I will reimburse you. Ready to go Sakura-chan?" He asked.

Sakura nodded then turned and headed towards the exit. Naruto followed her and waved goodbye to the Hokage and sannin. Tsunade and Jiraiya watched with concern until the pair made it out of the bar.

Once they were out Sakura stood straight up with a big smile. "How was that?"

"Great, I don't think they have the slightest idea." Naruto commented.

"Good. It wasn't all acting though, that Sake does feel weird." Sakura commented and Naruto nodded in agreement. "So, now we need to transform and go back in."

"Well what about that couple over there?" Naruto pointed to a young pair in their mid twenties.

"Sure." Sakura nodded.

Once the couple was out of sight Naruto and Sakura performed the transformation technique and entered the bar. The hostess let them in without any question. They headed to the farthest side from the counter at sat at a table. They were about fifty feet away from Jiraiya and Tsunade's table which was just far enough so they would most likely go unnoticed and close enough so they could hear without too much strain. Unfortunately they underestimated the Hokage's abilities.

After a few moments a waitress came by. Naruto ordered water while Sakura had tea. Once the waitress was gone they commenced the spying.

"I can't believe both of our students are such light weights." Jiraiya commented as he threw back another shot.

"Seriously, especially since they are so similar to us. Well, the good parts of us." Tsunade laughed to herself and downed her shot. "Naruto's got you fighting style, you stubbornness, and sadly he's somewhat perverted. Hopefully he doesn't become as extreme as you."

"Well he's surpassed me in everything else so far." Jiraiya laughed as he poured another glass. "Well, with Sakura watching him I doubt he will live long if he reaches my level. If you think about it, Sakura has your strength, your feistiness, and your medical skills too."

"When did we become old enough to talk about our students like this?" Tsunade sighed as she poured her next drink.

"Who knows?"

"Some wise people say you become old when you start living in the past." Tsunade offered.

"Well, I think you become old once you try to qualify what makes people old." Jiraiya responded thoughtfully.

"You know you just qualified what makes people old right?" Tsunade asked with a smile.

"Of course I do. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm not old." Jiraiya resolved as he downed another shot. "Besides, how did we even get talking about this depressing topic?"

"We were bragging about Naruto and Sakura."

"Well, it's not bad to be proud of people who are successful is it?"

"Of course not." Tsunade paused. "They sure are two special people huh?" Tsunade commented as she leaned back in her chair and looked at her surroundings. She went from each table until she reached Naruto and Sakura's table and paused, only for a split second before she moved on. 'That's odd; those two are using a transformation technique.' She tried sensing the chakra coming from the table and instantly recognized Sakura's and then Naruto's. 'Why are they over there?' Then suddenly it hit her. 'It all makes sense now. The way Ino talked about her and Shikimaru's "by chance" first date. Ino said that Naruto and Sakura were called to my office, which never happened. They actually set up Ino and Shikimaru and now they are trying to set me and Jiraiya up. Naruto and Sakura are playing matchmaker.' Tsunade smiled.

"Did you see her look at us? Do you think she knows?" Sakura asked in distress.

"I doubted. She only looked for a split second." Naruto replied.

"Hey Jiraiya, I want to show you a new technique I picked up." Tsunade said as she put her palm facing Naruto and Sakura. She focused and created an invisible barrier between the two tables.

"What's going on I can't hear them at all." Sakura said.

"Me either, it's probably that technique Bachaan just used."

"Don't look, but did you notice that couple that walked in earlier." Jiraiya nodded. "That's Naruto and Sakura. They are trying to set us up on a date. They pulled the same thing with Ino and Shikimaru. They are probably listening in, so if you want to say something without them hearing just make this barrier." Tsunade finished then took down the barrier.

"Oh so you this is what you do." Jiraiya faked as he placed his palm facing Naruto and Sakura and created a barrier. "So do you want to leave?" Jiraiya asked with a hint of disappointment. Tsunade thought for a moment then shook her head. "Well in that case we have to mess with them." Jiraiya winked. "But first I have to ask you something." He said then removed the barrier. "I asked you out all of those times and you always rejected me. What has changed now?"

"Honestly," Tsunade sighed. "I was always afraid that if I did go out with you we would become close and then I would lose you, just like Dan…" Sadness appeared in Tsunade's eyes. "But now that we are actually here, I am really enjoying myself which is hard to come by lately. I realize now how foolish it was to reject you all of those times." Tsunade smiled at Jiraiya. "To be fair though I always thought you began asking me out because of my boobs."

A big smile appeared on Jiraiya's face. "That had nothing to do with it; I just like spending time with you. Hell, even if you had boobs as small as Sakura's I would have still asked you out." Jiraiya said fully aware that Sakura heard every word of it. Both he and Tsunade did their best to suppress their laughter.

At hearing his words Sakura immediately looked down at the table, her face beet red. Naruto looked at her, blushing as well. His mouth was opening and closing as he was trying to figure what to say.

"Don't say anything." Sakura said quiet yet sternly.

Naruto nodded. He sat their awkwardly fidgeting, the tension killing him. He had to find a way to break out of this. "Um, WAITER." He called, his voice cracking slightly.

Hearing Naruto's panic caused both Jiraiya and Tsunade to burst out laughing. "This is more fun that I thought it would be." Tsunade said while wiping tears away.

"See, this is why I like being with you." Jiraiya reaffirmed. "You can make me laugh, you make me happy, and yet you're the only women in the world who can make me feel vulnerable with just her eyes."

Tsunade began blushing. "Well if I was such a prize then what was with all of the other women you chased after?"

"Well, it was me compensating for my inability to have you. But no matter how many girls I dated, none of them ever compared to you."

"Wow Jiraiya, I never knew you had such deep feelings." Tsunade replied in awe at his words.

"A man is supposed to hide his feelings for the sake of others, remember? " Jiraiya paused and smiled. "You're the only person in the world I can be like this around. Like I said before, you make me vulnerable with just a glance." He looked her dead in the eyes while he stated this. "But, don't get used to me being like this." He returned to his light hearted tone.

"Well Jiraiya-kun, I like spending time with you as well. You can always see right through my defenses. You understand me more than anyone I have ever known." Tsunade reached forward and grabbed his hand. From that position they stared into another's eyes.

"Wow that was so beautiful." Sakura said with a sad smile. "Who knew that pervert was capable of that."

"Yea." Naruto replied. 'Thanks Ero-sennin, now I got to top that when I confess to Sakura-chan.' Naruto mentally pouted.

"So what now?" Tsunade asked.

"Well it's our first date, so why don't we celebrate."

"Yeah, let's order some that fancy wine from the hidden village of mist." Tsunade said with excitement.

"Go ahead, Naruto's paying tonight." Jiraiya reminded with an evil grin.

Naruto's jaw dropped after hearing this. He looked down and pulled out his frog wallet and looked inside. "Poor gama-chan."

"Don't worry I will help you pay for it." Sakura reassured him.

"Thanks." Naruto replied yet still upset.

The rest of the night Jiraiya and Tsunade reminisced about old times while drinking wine. Naruto and Sakura listened with wavering interest. They talked about the third Hokage, Orochimaru, some of the missions they went on together and occasionally messed with their spies. The hours flew by for the couple while they dragged on for Naruto and Sakura. Before they knew it the clock struck midnight.

"Wow its midnight already. I should probably head back." Tsunade said as she yawned.

"Yea me too. I'll just get the bill." Jiraiya replied as he waved the waitress over. He asked for the bill and the waitress returned with it rather quickly. "Two hundred and fifty five dollars huh. Glad I'm not paying for it." Jiraiya said then paused. He listened and heard a loud thump as Naruto slammed his head onto his table. Jiraiya smiled as he placed the cash on the table and stood up. Tsunade stood up as well and led the way out of the bar. Naruto and Sakura followed suit, leaving a little more money than necessary on the table. They guided their way out of the restaurant and stopped just when they were outside. Jiraiya and Tsunade had stopped at a nearby cross road.

"Well, I am this way." Tsunade said as she pointed west.

"And I am this way." Jiraiya pointed east. "I can walk you back though."

"No its fine. Its late, you don't need to be crossing the entire village."

"Okay then. Well I hope we can go out again." Jiraiya asked unsure.

"Definitely." Tsunade replied with a big smile.

Jiraiya smiled back and placed his hand on her cheek. He leaned forward and their lips met. They were both in a state of pure bliss. He pulled back after a few seconds and looked into her eyes. "Goodnight Tsunade-himie."

"Good night Jiraiya-kun." Tsunade replied. Jiraiya let his hand fall back to his side. He turned around and walked towards his home coolly. Tsunade did the same.

Naruto watched Jiraiya walk away. After there was a distance between him and Tsunade Jiraiya jumped in the air and pumped his fist discreetly. Naruto just smiled, he did the exact same thing when it came to Sakura.

Sakura meanwhile watched Tsunade walk away. She saw Tsunade smile while shaking her head back and forth. It seemed familiar to her. She remembered she did the same thing when Naruto left her hotel room. 'What does that mean?' She thought. 'Am I the same way around Naruto as Tsunade-sensei is around Jiraiya?' Sakura pondered. She realized the answer to the last question was yes. Now she just needed to figure out the answer to a more important question. 'Are these feelings for Naruto not just typical friendship?'

"Well I guess that's it then. Mission accomplished." Naruto dispelled his transformation and gave Sakura a big thumb up.

"What? Oh yea I guess you're right." Sakura was broken out of her thoughts.

"You okay Sakura-chan? Is that Sake still bothering you?" Naruto asked out of concern.

"No am fine." Sakura smiled. "Well, I guess good night Naruto."

"Good night Sakura-chan." Naruto nodded. He stood up and headed back to his apartment.

Sakura meanwhile stayed put for a few moments. She sat there contemplating the questions that were nagging at her. "Shikimaru was right. You are a troublesome person Naruto." Sakura said to herself with a smile. She stood up and headed to her home to continue pondering her feelings.

Well that was a fun chapter to write. Hope you enjoyed it.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I am not looking forward to this mission." Naruto whined as he slurped down some noodles.

"Me either. I don't want to spend three days in the jungle just to spy on a village that is most likely peaceful." Sakura agreed as she sipped some water.

"Don't be so down, you two will get through it." Ayame reassured the pair from across the counter.

"Thanks." Sakura replied.

"No problem. Anyways, I have to go to the back to start prep work, just holler if you need me."

"Will do." Sakura waited for Ayame to leave before continuing. "Okay then what about Hinata and Kiba?" Sakura suggested hopefully.

"So we're back on that again? Hinata and Kiba, I guess it's a possibility." Naruto shrugged. "You're not going to stop until every woman in this village has a boyfriend are you?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"Of course not." Sakura smiled. "So you okay with Hinata and Kiba?"

"I don't know. First it was Shikamaru and Ino because we were their close friends. Then it was Jiraiya and Tsunade who were both our senseis. Hinata and Kiba are just part of the rookie nine. We don't know them well enough to be sure if they even have the slightest hint of feelings between them." Naruto sighed. "I mean it's been fun and all, but there really isn't anyone that _we _could set up."

"Maybe you're right, but we could always ask Shino about Hinata and Kiba."

"Shino? You must not remember him too well. I was around him for years when we were young and I still don't know what his voice sounds like." Naruto smiled.

"Yea your right I guess. Even if he did talk, I doubt he would have picked up on anything." Sakura sighed. "It's just that between Saskue and that Karin woman, Karin is _very_ vocal about her feelings. With Neji and Tenten, Tenten has dropped a ton hints. I even noticed on the few missions I traveled with them. Both relationships seem like they are going to happen eventually. So without Hinata and Kiba there's no one left."

"True. Well besides you and me." Naruto froze after he said that. He stole a quick glance at Sakura and saw her looking down stirring her soup. He thought he saw a slight blush but he _knew_ that wasn't right.

"Heh yea I guess." Sakura took a big bite of noodles. "Anyways, I better get back to work; Tsunade-sensei stopped being lenient with our lunches because Ino always had extended breaks with Shikamaru." Sakura quickly stood up and left some money on the counter then exited the tent.

"Bye Sakura-chan." Naruto called.

"Bye." Sakura replied without looking back.

"Stupid stupid stupid. Why did I say that?" Naruto smacked himself on the head once Sakura was gone.

"What did you do now?" Ayame asked returning from the back.

"I don't know. I just said something without thinking." Naruto sighed.

"So the usual?" Ayame asked with a smile.

"Yea." Naruto let his head smack against the counter with a slight thud.

"What did you say? I'm pretty sure whatever it was made her blush."

"Really? I thought I saw it too but…" Naruto trailed off and looked to Ayame who nodded in response. A smile instantly appeared on Naruto's face. "Well thanks Ayame, I got a lot to think about now." Naruto placed some money on the counter and stood up.

"What's there to think about Naruto?" Ayame asked, halting Naruto.

"I don't know. Nothing I guess." Naruto shrugged as he turned to face the woman.

"Exactly. So man up and tell her." Ayame said with a smile.

Naruto laughed to himself for a bit before nodding his head. "Okay then, I will tell her the next time I see her. It's a promise."

"Good, now get out of here." Ayame said still smiling.

"Okay, thanks Ayame-san." Naruto waved then ran off with excitement.

Ayame just laughed to herself as she wiped down the counter top.

It was the Tuesday after the Jiraiya -Tsunade set up and things had been going well. The sannin were both in better moods which meant less work for Sakura and easier training sessions for Naruto. Sakura resolved to use their good mood to get out of as much work as possible. With that idea she knocked on the familiar red doors that guarded the Hokage's office.

"Come in." Tsunade called. Sakura entered to see Jiraiya sitting on Tsunade's desk while Tsunade sat in her chair. "Well Sakura you're back from your lunch break a little early. Not to mention you look a little flustered. Did something happen?" Tsunade asked in concern.

"Oh not it's nothing, just something that Naruto said." Sakura replied embarrassed that she was so obvious.

"He is troublesome huh?" Jiraiya asked with a smile. Sakura nodded.

"That's Naruto for you. So I guess you're here for your afternoon assignments." Tsunade asked and Sakura nodded once again. "Well you're on clinical duty for the rest of the day."

"Okay." Sakura sighed in disappointment. She was hoping Tsunade's current happy state would pity her.

Tsunade looked up at hearing her student sigh. "Fine, I guess you can do training and research today if you want." Tsunade sighed as well.

"Really? Thank you Tsunade-sensei!" Sakura had a huge grin spread across her face. "You know, you've been in a really good mood lately." Sakura commented.

"Yeah, being with Jiraiya has made me happy." Tsunade said as she smiled at the old sannin.

"Well then I guess it worked out that Naruto and I left." Sakura said with some hidden pride.

"Yeah I guess." Tsunade replied slightly jaded. "Always, go do your research and training before I change my mind." Tsunade shooed the pink haired kunoichi out of the room.

"Okay, thank you Tsunade-sensei." Sakura bowed then hurried out the door.

Once her apprentice left Tsunade stared out the window for a minute. "What's on your mind Tsunade-himie?" Jiraiya asked seeing her distant look.

"It's just that, I don't know. It seems like Sakura has a feeling of victory for setting us up and I don't like it one bit. It really gets my goat." Tsunade sounded as if she were about to have a toddler fit.

"It really gets my goat?" Jiraiya repeated while laughing. "When did we get so old?" He continued laughing until Tsunade shot him a look that shut him up. "Well in all fairness, she did set us up and it worked out. We are both happy so I don't see a problem. Also, what do you mean by victory?" Jiraiya replied confused.

"By victory I mean that when those two set us up it made them think they out smarted us. We are the teachers, which means we're supposed to be one step ahead of our students. Not to mention it's like we owe them something. In a way we are losing, and I don't like to lose." Tsunade had a fire in her eyes.

"Is that it?" Jiraiya asked with a half smile.

"This is no joking matter. We have to do something." Tsunade searched the clouds through the window as she thought. After a moment a devious look appeared in her eyes. "I have an idea."

"Crap." Jiraiya sighed.

"That went well." Yamato said as he and Sai strolled into the village having just returned from a recon mission.

"Yep." Sai responded swiftly.

"Between my tracking skills and your ink bird we make a pretty good recon team."

"Yep."

Yamato sighed. "You really don't understand how the whole conversation concept works, do you." Yamato smiled to himself. Sai looked over to his captain and saw he was smiling so he joined in with a wide grin. "One of these days we will have a chat about-"Yamato was interrupted by a poof.

"Hello captain Yamato, Sai. I am sorry to interrupt but the Hokage requested Sai's presence immediately." The ANBU ordered.

"That works out well; we were just on our way over to report the findings of our mission." Yamato commented.

"Well then, carry on." The ANBU turned into a cloud of smoke and disappeared.

"I guess we better get moving then." Yamato noted.

"Yep." Sai replied.

Yamato just sighed and hung his head in defeat. "Maybe we wouldn't make such a good team."

"I will beat you this time Neji-kun." Rock Lee said while standing a taijutsu pose.

"Heh, we will see about that. Byakugan!" Neji yelled.

"Here I come." Lee announced as he charged. He started his attack with a series of lighting fast jabs in combination with high kicks. Neji blocked the kicks with equal speed, pushing his byakugan to its max. After four combinations, all of which were block, Lee did a leg sweep which caught Neji off guard and forced him on to his back with a loud thud. Lee followed this move up with an axe kick. Neji predicted this and rolled out of the way just in time. He then rolled backwards and stood up.

"My turn. Sixty four strikes." Neji called as he began his assault. Lee was barely holding on as he blocked the barrage off attacks. Eventually Neji landed a hit right in the center of Lee's chest which sent him soaring back.

Lee hit the ground with a thud but stood up quickly. "Nice hit Neji-kun." Lee called from his new spot.

"Yes it was a good round." Neji commented.

"Neji." Tenten called. Neji turned to face her. "You look so cool when you fight like that." She said from the edge of team eleven's training grounds with an evident blush.

Neji immediately turned back to Rock Lee and let out a sigh. He hid it well, but there was the slightest hint of a blush appearing on his cheeks. "Let's go again." He called.

"I am ready whenever you are." Lee called as he adjusted his leg weights.

"Okay. Three, two, one-" A poof interrupted his count down.

"Sorry about the interruption, but the Hokage wants to see team eleven in her office immediately."

"Okay, we are on our way." Neji responded. The ANBU nodded and disappeared. "I wonder what the Hokage wants with us during our week off." Neji wondered. After his statement the team picked up their gear and headed out.

Tsunade sat patiently at her desk while she waited. In the mean time Jiraiya sat at the window sill searching through the village. Before long Yamato and Sai showed up and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Tsunade called.

"Hello Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama." Yamato bowed.

"Hello." Sai bowed as well.

"Hello. Yamato what are you doing here?" Tsunade asked confused.

"Well Sai and I just returned from our mission and-"

"Wait…This is good!" Tsunade exclaimed. "I have the perfect job for you."

"My apologies, but I am slightly confused. Would you like to hear the results of our mission?"

"Mission? What are you talking about? Oh, don't worry about that, maybe sometime later. I just have the perfect job for you." Tsunade replied scatterbrained.

"Umm what is it?" Yamato asked nervously.

"Not now, I need to do this in order. I will tell you after I give team eleven their assignment."

"Umm team eleven is not here…" 'Has she finally snapped? She seemed perfectly normal when I walked in and now she's insane.' Yamato thought slightly scared. He was about to say something when a knock was heard at the door.

"Come in. See, there's team eleven right now."

"You wanted to see us Hokage-sama." Neji called as he entered.

"Yes come on in." Tsunade paused as she waited for all three members to enter. "Now, I know it is your week off and all, but I need a favor." She paused with a look that made it seem like she was in pain. "Would you three take a mission that was assigned to team seven? I have something important I need to do with Naruto and Sakura."

"I don't know. You are the Hokage so I guess you could just force us to anyways." Neji speculated.

"ALSO, Naruto and Sakura are the epitome of the spring time of youth. If it is them that need us we will be more than happy to help." Lee chimed while pumping his fist.

"Right….." Tsunade sighed. "So in other words, we can do this the easy way in which I will owe your team…or the hard way." Tsunade had a devilish grin on her face.

"No no no, we will take the easy way." Neji replied nervously.

"Good, you can go now." Tsunade waved them off.

"Yes Hokage-sama." The team bowed and headed off.

"So Sai, are you still talented with your paint brush?" Tsunade turned to the pale boy. Sai nodded. "Good, go talk to Jiraiya-kun, he will inform you on the details of your job."

Jiraiya sighed then waved the boy over. Sai headed over to the old pervert.

"As for you Yamato, your role will be the icing on the cake." Tsunade turned to the ANBU captain.

"Your wish is my command." Yamato nodded.

Tsunade took a few minutes to explain the entire situation to Yamato while Jiraiya lackadaisically informed Sai on the details of his role. After about thirty minutes they were finished and Yamato and Sai were about to take their leave.

"So is everything understood?" Tsunade asked the two ninja.

"Yes Hokage-sama." Yamato nodded.

"Yep." Sai replied with a fake smile.

"Okay then. Before you go Sai, this is the note that Jiraiya told you about." Tsunade pulled out a small scroll and handed it to Sai. "Do not forget this." She said sternly before she let go. "Okay that's all; you can give the mission report later."

"Goodbye." Yamato bowed along with Sai.

"Good luck." Tsunade called as they both took their leave. She then spun in her chair to face Jiraiya. "Now then, we have work to do." Tsunade said as she stood up.

Jiraiya sighed.

End of Chapter

Well, I guess this took a lot longer for me to finish than expected. I apologize for the wait. I actually had this written awhile ago I just couldn't force myself to proof read it. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know some might have wanted more pairings but I only really ship Naru/Sakur and Tsunade/Jiraiya. Shiki and Ino are just fun to write with. I have a test week coming up but I feel like I will be able to write the next chapter relatively fast. Anyways, thanks for reading and review if you have anything you want to point out or if you like the chapter. Thank you to everyone who posted a review.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

'What did I get myself into?' Jiraiya pondered as he watched Naruto train. 'I guess I had no choice in the matter, "got to keep the woman happy." That was probably the most useful thing the sandaime taught me.'

Naruto meanwhile had several shadow clones dispersed across the training ground. Each clone was trying to figure out a way to use rasen shuriken without destroying the cells in their arms. The training ground itself was a giant field surround by a barrier of trees. It was a mile outside of the town in order to protect the village. Naruto had spent an entire week on his technique but still yielded no positive results.

"Okay that's enough for today Naruto." Jiraiya called from the edge of the grounds.

"No, I still haven't gotten anywhere, I can't stop now." Naruto replied with determination.

"Naruto you've been out here since eight in the morning. It's now five. If you don't stop you will suffer from severe chakra exhaustion." Naruto made no motion to quit. "If you don't stop I will make you." Jiraiya ordered firmly.

"Fine." Naruto surrendered knowing that his sensei was correct. He dispelled all of the clones and kneeled down until the wave of exhaustion passed. He then stood up and walked over to the white haired man while breathing heavily.

"Any longer and you would have passed out after dispelling those clones." Jiraiya commented seeing his student's exhaustion.

"I know but I just spent the past month developing this new technique and now I can't even use it." Naruto groaned in frustration.

"I understand where you are coming from, but if you push yourself too far you will just undo what you've been working towards." Jiraiya reminded his student.

"Yes I understand." Naruto replied, the disappointment evident in his voice.

"Hey I got an idea, how about I take you out to a nice dinner. It will be good for you to have a nutritious meal."

"RAME-"

"No." Jiraiya stopped the ramen lover quickly.

"What do you have in mind then?" Naruto asked as he picked up his pack.

"I was thinking the Golden Leaf." Jiraiya responded.

"The Golden Leaf? Never heard of it." Naruto replied.

"In the seventeen years of your life the only restaurant you have ever eaten at is Ichiraku's Ramen. I can't say I'm surprised." Jiraiya smirked.

"Well where is it?"

"I think I have a map." Jiraiya said as he opened up his pack and began rummaging through it. Eventually he pulled out a map of Konoha and a pen. He searched through the map until he spotted the restaurant then circled it and handed the parchment to Naruto. "There you go. Be there at seven tomorrow night."

Naruto took the map and stuffed it in his pocket. "Will do. If that's all I better get going." Naruto said quickly as he turned around to walk off.

"Wait." Jiraiya called and Naruto froze.

'Crap I hope he didn't remember.' Naruto prayed. "Yeah sensei?" Naruto asked.

"There's a dress code, so wear a suit."

"Okay that's fine, bye then." Naruto turned to walk off. 'Phew, looks like I dodged that again.'

"Oh, one more thing." Jiraiya called causing Naruto to stop again. "Here's the bill for the bar that night you said you would pay." Jiraiya had an evil smirk on his face.

'DAMMIT.' Naruto cried within his mind. He turned around and put on a fake smile. "Thank you Ero-sennin, glad that you did forget that." Naruto was grinding his teeth.

"No problem, just bring the money to dinner." Jiraiya gave a gleeful wave as he summoned a frog and rode away on its back.

'I almost got away with it too.' Naruto thought, and then something struck him. 'Did he say I have to wear a suit? I don't even own one. What a pain in the ass. This day just gets worse and worse.' With that thought Naruto carelessly drug himself to the village.

"Hey Tsunade-sensei." Sakura called as she entered through the double red doors that guarded the Hokage's office.

"Hello Sakura, I am assuming you finished your shift." Tsunade said as she swiveled around her chair in order to face her apprentice.

Sakura nodded.

"Well I guess you are done for today then. Before you go though, we never really got a chance to celebrate." Tsunade reminded her apprentice.

"Oh no it's not a problem. I'm the one that wanted to go to the bar after all." Sakura reminded her sensei.

"Nonsense, summoning a boss creature is a great accomplishment and as such you deserve a nice night out." Tsunade stood firm on her position.

"If you insist." Sakura seceded.

"I do insist. How would you like to go to the Golden Leaf tomorrow night?" Tsunade said as if it was a once in a life time opportunity.

"The Golden Leaf! I heard that's one of the hardest restaurants to get into it. It has a six month waiting list." Sakura said with shock.

"Sakura, I'm the Hokage, not having to go through waiting list is one of the perks. One of the only ones at that." Tsunade said a little jaded.

"Yeah I'm sure that's one of the reasons Naruto wants to become Hokage. He is rather impatient." Sakura smiled as did Tsunade. "Well that sounds really nice, what time?"

"Seven fifteen. And make sure you wear a nice dress."

"A nice dress? Wow, it's been a long time since I've worn one of those. Actually I haven't worn anything better than the scrub gowns we get here since Naruto left." Sakura recalled.

"Yeah they're typically not part of a ninja's wardrobe, but a dress is a necessity."

"I don't know if can get one before tomorrow night." Sakura worried.

"Just borrow one from Ino, you're about the same size and she has the day off. Head over there right now and get one." Tsunade wasn't going to let a dress stop her plot.

"Sounds like a plan. So I guess I will see you tomorrow at seven fifteen." Sakura checked before she left.

"Yep seven fifteen sharp. Just meet me at the restaurant; I probably will already have a table." Tsunade added as Sakura left.

"We'll see you then. Bye sensei." Sakura called as she exited the office.

"Bye Sakura." Tsunade replied. 'Perfect.' She thought mischievously.

'Where the hell am I going to find a suit by tomorrow night?' Naruto pondered as he pulled himself through the crowded village. He weaved his way in and out of the masses as he searched from store to store looking for a men's shop. Eventually he stumbled upon a bookstore and spotted a familiar face.

"Kakashi." Naruto waved as he walked over to his original sensei.

"Oh hey Naruto." The silver haired Jounin replied before turning back to the book shelf. He searched through the row until he found a certain book and pulled it out. "There it is."

Naruto looked and saw that his sensei was holding up a copy of the new Icha Icha paradise. "Hey, didn't I already give you the manuscript for that book?" Naruto asked with a hint of confusion

"Yes, but I must also have it in paperback for my collection." Kakashi eyed the book with pride.

"Whatever." Naruto paused for a second. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a suit I could borrow?" The blonde asked hopefully.

"This isn't part of some intricate plan to set me up with someone is it, because I'm on to you two?" Kakashi eyed Naruto suspiciously.

"What? No, Jiraiya is taking me to some restaurant and I need a suit."

"Oh well then, I don't have a suit." Kakashi replied coolly.

"Really? You're a twenty six year old guy without a suit?"

"I'm cheap Naruto, I just borrow it." Kakashi gave him a thumb up.

"Figures." Naruto groaned.

"Besides, what do you need a suit for? You're the last person I can see wearing a tie."

"Ero-sennin wants to take me to some place called the Golden Leaf and I need to wear a suit for dress code."

"Ooh, that's a nice place." Kakashi replied a little surprised. The idea of Jiraiya taking Naruto to the Golden Leaf sounded suspicious to the wise Jounin.

"Yea well I need to go find someone with a suit. Maybe Shikamaru has one." Naruto pondered out loud. "Anyways, see-yah Kakashi." Naruto waved and he walked towards the middle of the market place. Kakashi just nodded in response.

Naruto continued his journey through the village only now he was searching for Shikamaru.

_Knock knock knock. _Sakura gently rapped on Ino's door hoping that her blonde friend was home. Sakura's was reassured when she heard a click as the door slowly opened. "Oh hey Sakura, what's up?" Ino poked her head out.

"I need a dress by tomorrow and I figured this would be the best place to get one. Out of the two of us you were always the one with a sense of style."

"You're damn right." Ino beamed with pride. "Well come in, my parents are out working so we got it all to ourselves." The blonde gestured to the room as she turned and walked into her home, followed by Sakura. "What do you need a dress for anyways, finally got yourself a date?" Ino teased as she led the way to her room.

"Psh nothing like that. Tsunade-sensei is taking me out to dinner so we can celebrate my summoning of Katsuyu."

"And I'm not invited? You always were her favorite." Ino joked as she opened the door to her room.

"I wouldn't say that…I-"

"Forehead I am just kidding, sheesh." Ino laughed as she entered her room.

"Oh I knew that." Sakura replied quickly. She looked around her friends room, and just as she remembered it, there was purple everywhere. Purple drapes, purple pillows, purple sheets, almost everything was a shade of purple. "You have more than just purple dresses right, because it's not really my color." Sakura asked slightly worried.

"What do you think of me?" As Ino said this she flung open her massive closet. Sakura's jaw instantly dropped. She was amazed to see dresses of every color and every style all on a giant revolving track. "Purple might be my favorite color, but you got to be ready for anything."

"Yeah, apparently." Sakura replied still star struck by the shear amount of dresses. "You expecting some kind of dress shortage…or war?"

"You never know. Let's see here." Ino said as she looked over Sakura and then to her dress selection. She quickly spun the dress rack around until she picked out four dresses. Two were red and two were green. She then picked up one dress of each color and placed them side by side against Sakura. "Green or red green or red?" Ino pondered looking to each dress multiple times.

"I think-"

"Red, most defiantly red." Ino cut Sakura off. "Now try on this one and see what you think. The bathrooms over there if you're shy." Ino pointed down the hall.

"Oh thanks." Sakura picked up the dress and headed over. Ino just sighed. A few minutes later Sakura returned fidgeting like crazy. "This won't work." Sakura said looking in the mirror on Ino's wall. It was a rather skimpy dress to say the least. It had small spaghetti straps and a long v cut made to show as much cleavage as possible. The lower part was just a short skirt that reached Sakura's mid thigh.

"Really, because I think you look pretty hot in it." Ino observed from her bed.

"I am going to go celebrate with my sensei not work the corner." Sakura replied haughtily.

"I figured you would say that so here." Ino tossed Sakura the other red dress. Sakura caught the dress and went to change. She returned a few minutes later with a pleasant look.

"I like this one." Sakura said as she eyed herself in Ino's mirror. Sakura looked at a sleeveless dress that had straps and part of the top of the back missing. It had a v cut but not nearly as deep as the last dress. The bottom of the dress ran to her ankles. Along the side of the dress there was a slit that ran up to her lower thy.

"Yea you can pull it off." Ino said as she leaned back to get a full view. "Now we need some earrings." Ino jumped up and headed to one of the doors of her closet on the back of which was a long band that held several sets of earrings. She picked up a pair that were about two inches long. They were two diamond shaped pieces with jade and a gold border. "There, this ought to bring out your eyes." Ino commented as she handed Sakura the jewelry.

"Wow these are really nice, are you sure you want me to use them?" Sakura asked as she eyed the two pieces.

"If there was anyone I would trust not to lose these it would be you." Ino gave her a smile.

"Well thanks. I better go put this stuff up." Sakura turned around but Ino stopped her.

"Sakura, we still have to get your shoes, your make up, lip stick, and hairstyle." Ino listed.

"Heh, you don't have to worry about all of that other stuff, except for the shoes, I don't have any of those." Sakura said slightly tired.

"Well then, let's start picking out some for you to wear. Let's see, these are good, oh these too, ooo I forgot about these…" Ino rambled to herself as she scoured through the long line of shoes.

Sakura meanwhile sighed and collapsed on Ino's bed. 'I forgot how much work this is.'

_Bang Bang Bang_. Naruto pounded on Shikamaru's door. 'He better be here.' Naruto thought.

"Hello?" The Nara called as he opened the door. "Oh, I could have guessed it was you by the knock." Shikamaru sighed.

"Well hey to you too."

"Sorry I'm just tired." Shikamaru rubbed his forehead.

"You're always tired…lazy ass." Naruto smirked.

"Now is that the way to talk to someone who you're going to ask a favor of?" Shikamaru replied.

"How did you know I needed a favor?"

"Well, when was the last time you came to my door at six o'clock in the afternoon and you didn't need one?"

"Hey, that last one turned out good for you remember?"

"Tch none of your business."

"Heh I figured."

"So are you gunna ask me for something?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Oh yeah, I need a suit and I was wondering if I could borrow yours, if it's not too much trouble."

"Yeah come on in, it's not like I ever use it." Shikamaru led the way into his home. As they entered his room Shikamaru began laughing.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked with a confused look.

"Nothing, I just can't imagine you wearing a suit. A kimono maybe, but a suit?" Shikamaru continued laughing.

"Yeah I know, just the idea of it makes me uncomfortable." Naruto fidgeted slightly. The blonde observed his friend's room. It was nothing special, just a bed with a stand and an alarm on top of it. On the floor there were dirty clothes and a chess set. Shikamaru meanwhile went into his closet and knelt down. When he stood back up he had a box in his hands that he tossed on the bed.

"There you go. That should be a coat, tie, shoes, belt, and collar shirt, the whole shebang." Shikamaru pointed towards the box.

"Really, that's good. I'd say we were about the same height, I might be a little taller." Naruto commented as he looked through the box.

"Yeah don't rub it in. Besides, you only got a few inches on me at best." The Nara pouted.

"I wasn't trying too. It just seems like I would have to go through a lot more trouble than this." Naruto said never having to dress up before.

"As men it's easy. You just wear the suit. Make sure the pants and coat match, put on black shoes along with a tie and bam your done."

"Well thanks for the tips. That's all I needed so I guess I better get home. I'm exhausted." Naruto yawned as he picked up the box and headed to the door.

"Welcome to the club. But before you go, why do you even need a suit?" Shiki asked out of curiosity.

"Oh Ero-sennin is taking me somewhere nice for dinner as a reward for training."

"Well, you can't say no to free food huh." Shikamaru commented as they reached the door.

"You most definitely cannot." Naruto smiled as he took a step outside. "Thanks for the suit; I'll bring it back on Sunday."

"Yeah no problem. See-yah later." Shikamaru called.

"See-yah." Naruto replied before heading back to his home with a little lighter step just having solved his suit problem. The knowledge that he was going to be able to go home and pass out also helped.

"Okay you got everything?" Ino asked as she guided her friend out the front door.

"Yea I think we're good, and if I forgot anything just leave it." Sakura struggled considering she could barely see over the stack of boxes she was carrying.

"I guess that monstrous strength comes in handy huh?" Ino joked as she observed her friend carry the load.

"If I didn't have all of these boxes you would be dead right now." Sakura shot back.

"Yeah, but you do, which is what makes it all the better." Ino teased. "Anyways see you later forehead." She called from the porch.

"Yeah bye, thanks for lending me this stuff." Sakura replied with thoughts of relaxing in her home creeping into her mind. She headed back, dreams of a hot shower and sleep motivating her every step.

"So did you complete your part of the mission?" Tsunade asked hearing Jiraiya arrive at her window seal.

"Gosh you make it sound like I just wacked someone." Jiraiya joked as he jumped into the dimly lit office.

"Well did you." Tsunade swiveled around in her chair, her hands clasped together and placed in her lap. "Because if you didn't-"Tsunade kept up the mysterious mood for as long as possible.

"Don't worry, I told Naruto were to go, what to wear, how to get there, and the time to meet me. We are covered on my end. What about you."

"The same as you…this is going to be great!" Tsunade exclaimed, the sense of mystery now gone entirely.

"So what do I get for keeping my end of the bargain?" Jiraiya leaned on Tsunade's desk seductively.

"This." Tsunade stood up slowly moved towards him. She danced her fingers across his face lightly and gently pulled down his forehead protector over his eyes.

"Oooh a blind fold, I like where this is going." Jiraiya sounded giddy.

Tsunade smiled to herself. Without making any sound she leaned forward and kissed Jiraiya's forehead and then slipped the forehead protector back up. "There."

"That's it?" Jiraiya exclaimed in shock.

"Yep that's it. Now if you will excuse me I have some hospital matters to attend to." Tsunade stood up and headed towards the door.

"That's just cruel." Jiraiya pouted.

"I am a tease." Tsunade called as she left her office with a wide grin.

The rest of the village slowly died down as the late hours of the night approached. Naruto and Sakura were both passed out in their respective beds until late morning. They each slept in consider their sensei's had given them the day off. Sakura woke around ten while Naruto, the lazier of the two, woke up at noon. Sakura used her day off to run a few errands like purchase groceries. Naruto spent his time lying around his apartment. He ended up working out in order to get his mind of the fact that he was going to have to dress up tonight. Sakura on the other hand was excited and instead used her dinner plans as something to look forward to. All in all the day passed without anything special.

Naruto checked his clock and saw it was six thirty. He decided to get ready being unsure how easy the whole getting dressed process would be. He first put on his button up shirt followed by his slacks and belt. The shirt was a little snug and short on the arms but Naruto didn't notice. He then put on some black socks and the pair of shoes in the box. It all seemed to be going pretty well until he pulled out the tie. 'Crap, the tie isn't already tied.' Naruto pouted as he looked at the long slip of fabric. 'Okay remember what Jiraiya taught you.' Naruto went to a mirror and began the process. Jiraiya had taught him how to tie a tie before the thirds funeral. Naruto ended up wearing a kimono, but he still remembered the process. It was at that moment back then that Naruto realized Jiraiya was more than just his sensei, but the father figure he had struggled to find. 'I guess I do owe the old man, better not be late.' Naruto thought as he pulled the tie snug and grabbed his coat, heading to the door. Before he left he took a quick look at a mirror. "Not bad, not bad at all Naruto." He said before laughing to himself.

Naruto walked swiftly not wanting to be late to his dinner. The restaurant was a fair distance away. It was located towards the edge of town. There was a thick forest surrounding it, making the only easily accessible route a bridge. Naruto searched the area, noticing that he wasn't too far from the Hokage monument. Once he spotted the bridge he headed across and noticed an ANBU sitting at the end. He couldn't help but eye the ninja as he walked.

'Crap he knows.' Yamato worried as the blonde passed him.

Naruto was about to say something but he remembered his resolution not to be late to the dinner. Yamato meanwhile stood tense hoping that the boy would just pass by. Once Naruto was in the restaurant Yamato took his mask off in order to wipe the sweat off of his brow. 'That was close. If I messed this up I would hate to see what Tsunade-senpai would do to me.' Yamato let out a sigh and returned the mask to his face.

Naruto opened the double doors that guarded the restaurant. He took a step inside and gasped. He had never seen such a place in his life.

"Hello Sir?" The hostess called noting the boy was in a daze.

"Oh sorry." Naruto apologized with a slight blush reaching his face. "I am meeting someone here."

"What's the reservation name?"

"I believe it will be under Jiraiya, if not try Uzumaki." Naruto offered while looking around the establishment for his sensei.

"Yes I have a reservation for Uzumaki; I will lead you to your table." The girl said with a smile as she picked up a pair of menus and led the way.

'That's odd, why would he make the reservation in my name, he's the one that had to pull strings in order to get me in here.' Naruto pondered as he made his way to the table.

"Here you are sir." The waitress placed the two menus on a table near the center of the restaurant.

"Thank you." Naruto nodded and took a seat.

"Looks like Naruto arrived on time. I must say I am surprised." Tsunade commented. She was currently disguised as a young woman with long brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Yep, and here I was expecting Sakura to be the one on time or even early." Jiraiya replied. He was disguised as a young black haired man. The pair were about five tables away from Naruto and Sakura's table.

"Well she's still not late." Tsunade replied coolly.

"What do you mean; its seven o'clock and I don't see her." Jiraiya argued.

"That's because I told her to be here at seven fifteen." Tsunade replied still calm.

"What!? We agreed on seven. Besides, who the hell meets someone at seven fifteen?" Jiraiya exclaimed incredulously. "Well you better hope Naruto doesn't get bored and leave before she gets here."

"I'm sure he will be fine."

"You do realize he is the most hyperactive ninja in the village by far. I've known him for a long time, and fifteen minutes is pushing it. Not to mention he will be getting pretty pissed at me." Jiraiya complained.

"Well that's a shame." Tsunade teased. "Don't worry, I'm sure we will be fine, now let's drop it." Tsunade now had a sleight threatening tone.

"No no no, this is one of the few times that you made a mistake and _I_ did something right, I can't just let this go." Jiayra had a wide grin.

Tsunade just turned to him and shot a look that would make any other grown man cry.

Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders. "It's your plan."

"Right. Speaking of which, are Sai and Yamato in their assigned places?"

"Yep we are good to go."

"Perfect."

Meanwhile just outside the restaurant a pale black haired boy was sitting the bushes looking in through a window. 'This is such an odd mission, I wonder if it will work out. They are my teammates after all and I do want them to be happy.' Sai worried as he readied his supplies and turned his attention back to Naruto.

_Intro_

Naruto sat in a dimly lit room filled with the sound of soft voices and quiet laughter. He observed mahogany tables draped with white table cloths, on top of which were several napkins folded to look like sea shells. Next those napkins were candles, each subtly illuminating the faces of customers. He observed each diner noticed the majority of men were wearing suits. The idea of wearing a suit one day was rather dreadful to Naruto, but to wear it multiple times a week, seemed unfathomable. Naruto was constantly adjusting his pants, loosening his tie, pulling on his collar for air, but no matter what he did, he was never comfortable. As matter of fact, the whole restaurant made him feel unsettled.

Naruto broke out of his trance and decided to stop staring at people. In order to keep himself entertained he fiddled with the silverware on his table. From time to time he would take sips of water, check out the crowd, and read through the menu. It was rather lonely, the waiter being Naruto's sole company, coming by on occasion to refill his drink. All in all, Naruto was growing impatient.

'Where is that dam pervert? If he doesn't show up I swear I will kill him. And what is with this restaurant, it seems so…romantic, why would he pick this place?' Naruto thought to himself. It was Jiraiya after all who told Naruto to meet him at the Golden Leaf restaurant at seven O'clock. It was now seven fifteen and there was no sign of the white haired ninja. Naruto was subconsciously gripping the fork in his hand tighter and tighter, envisioning ambushing the pervert as soon as he appeared at the lobby entrance. Eventually Naruto heard his stomach grumble, causing him to gain interest in the menu.

After a few minutes of reading the menu Naruto decided to scan the crowd once again to search for a white haired man, just about ready to leave. He scanned the dining room but nothing popped out at him. He then looked towards the entrance and saw her. A majestic figure of pink and red had just entered the restaurant. His body immediately relaxed and all fidgeting stopped as he stared in awe at what he saw.

End of chapter.

The penultimate chapter is up (unless I do a prologue which is iffy). This one was fun to write to my surprise. I reposted the intro at the end because I wasn't sure if it flowed right and to refresh your memories because it has been awhile. Anyways I would like to thank gotmilk113 for pointing my misspelling of Jiraiya, I went through and fixed it in all of the chapters (thank god for the replace option). Also I would like to thank everyone who writes reviews, I read all of them and your support is greatly appreciated. The next chapter may take awhile because I don't want to botch arguably the most important and my personal favorite scene in the entire fan fic. It will really just depend on if I feel like writing. Also, I am sorry if you wanted to see more of team Gai, but I never really planned on writing them in at all. Anyways hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review if you have anything you would like to add or if just enjoyed it.

PS: I made sure to make this chapter longer


	10. Chapter 9

Well guys the last chapter is finally here. Fluff alert. Warning, there is some fluff ahead. I am very sorry about the huge wait and I wish it could say it was because I was writing this paper for all of those months. I just didn't feel like writing and didn't want to force anything so I waited. Anyways, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 9

"Are you sure that Tsunade-sama isn't already here?" Sakura asked the hostess.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't even see a reservation for the Hokage. I will check again though." The hostess began reading through the list not wanting to cause a problem with the Hokage.

Sakura meanwhile searched the restaurant for her teacher. She checked the bar first of course and continued into the dining area where something caught her eye. 'Naruto? What is he doing here? Maybe he knows where Tsunade is.' Without a word to the hostess Sakura walked towards the boy.

'What's she doing here?' Naruto pondered as he looked towards Sakura while still in a light trance. 'Oh she's walking towards me. Act normal.'

"Naruto, I didn't expect to see you here." Sakura said when she was close to the table.

"Yeah same here." Naruto replied as he looked over Sakura. He felt like a little blood was about to escape his nose.

"Have you seen Tsunade-sama? She was supposed to be meeting me here."

Naruto shook his head. "Nope, but what a coincidence, I am supposed to be meeting Ero-sennin here."

Meanwhile back at the entrance the hostess had finished triple checking her list and looked up. "I am sorry mam- ." The women looked back and forth. "Where did she go?" A customer in line pointed towards Naruto's table. The hostess hurried over to Sakura. "Umm I am sorry mam," Sakura turned to face the hostess. Naruto took this opportunity to check for blood under his nose. "But if you don't have a reservation I am going to have to ask you to leave. Is she bothering you sir?"

"What?" Naruto looked at Sakura and smiled. "Her? Hmm…."

"Naruto!" Sakura pleaded.

Naruto laughed. "She's not being a bother at all. Actually Sakura-chan you can wait for Tsunade-Bachan here if you want." He offered.

"That would be nice." Sakura replied and took a seat across from Naruto.

"Are you sure about this sir?" The hostess asked.

"Yeah…she's a little crazy but I'm used to it." Naruto replied with a smile. The hostess nodded and returned to her post.

Sakura glared at Naruto.

"What?" Naruto laughed to himself. "You can't be mad at me, you owe me. They were just about to toss you out."

"Yeah I guess."

"And with your monstrous strength it could have gotten ugly." Naruto continued still smiling.

"Don't push your luck." Sakura warned. Naruto just laughed and nodded in understanding.

"I just don't get it. I know for a fact Tsunade-sensei said to meet her at the Golden Leaf restaurant at seven fifteen. When were you supposed to meet Jiraiya?" Sakura asked.

"Seven." Naruto paused. "Hey, you don't think that they are with each other do you?"

"It's possible. They could have gone out and just lost track of time." Sakura replied.

"And part one is complete." Tsunade commented to her date. "And you thought it wouldn't work. Sounds like you owe me a drink."

"What! I never agreed to such a thing." Jiraiya replied in confusion.

"You said my plan wouldn't work while I thought it would. We agreed that whoever was wrong would buy the other a drink." Tsunade reminded the white haired man.

"You're making this up." Jiraiya eyed Tsunade suspiciously.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Tsunade stared at Jiraiya without blinking.

Jiraiya couldn't figure out what to say. He began fidgeting and sweating as Tsunade continued to stare. "UM Waiter." He called nervously, causing his voice to crack.

"Well Sakura-chan, if you don't mind me saying, I think you look…nice tonight."

"Thanks." Sakura replied slightly blushing. "You don't look too bad yourself."

Naruto scratched the back off his head as sheepish grin crept onto his face. "Thanks."

"Geeze where are they?" Sakura pouted as she fiddled with a fork on the table.

Naruto then turned to check the clock on the wall. "It's seven-thirty; I can only _imagine_ what would be keeping those two love birds." Naruto said in a seductive tone.

"Wha-"A disgusted look crept onto Sakura's face. "Naruto why would you say that. That's just…just…Ugg I need to get these images out of my head."

"What are you talking about? I was just merely pointing out the time. You're the one with a perverted mind who jumped to such a lewd conclusion." Naruto said victoriously.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sakura replied a tad embarrassed.

"But seriously, where are they? I am starving." Naruto pouted.

"You are always hungry." Sakura teased.

"Since that is true, I'm going to go ahead and order." Naruto said as he signaled the waiter over to the table.

"It is rude to eat before the rest of the party gets here." Sakura pleaded.

"It's also rude to keep someone waiting thirty minutes." Naruto shot back with a confident grin.

"Well, you got me there." Sakura admitted. She then took one more look towards the door then opened up the menu.

They ordered their meals a few moments later. The waiter quickly jotted them down, relieved that the table was finally ready.

"I could have guessed you were going to order the salmon rolls." Naruto said with a smile.

"Bah, well I could have guessed you were going to order the pork soup." Sakura shot back at him.

"Yeah, we have known each other a long time haven't we. Gosh, it seems like not too long ago that we were assigned to the same gennin team. You, me, and Saskue..." Naruto trailed off with a nostalgic smile.

"You remember that one mission where we went to that city that was under construction and you fell into that hole-"

"And broke my tail bone, how could I forget? It was the funniest yet most painful thing I can remember." Naruto smiled.

"Also the way Ino and I always fought, and the way both you and Lee had a crushes on me." Sakura was smiling for a split second before she realized what she said.

"Yeah." Naruto said, his cheeks turning a tint of red. He was so embarrassed he did not notice Sakura's cheeks do the same thing. "Good times." He said resolutely. Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Hey, were they talking about us _getting it on_?" Jiraiya asked in half shock.

"What was that? I can't hear you over my victory Sake." Tsunade replied.

"Pshh." Jiraiya replied while folding his arm.

"Let's see, who had the salmon rolls?" Sakura slightly raised her hand. "Ah there you go." The waiter said, placing the plate in front of Sakura. "And the pork for you sir, enjoy your meals."

"Thank you." They both called.

"This looks good." Sakura commented while grabbing her chop sticks.

"Sure does." Naruto said in agreement.

They both began eating, but a few moments into the meal Sakura gave Naruto a funny look.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" He asked with a playful smile.

"No, I was just confused is all."

"Confused?" Naruto asked, now confused as well.

"When was the last time you didn't devour you meal in seconds?" Sakura asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Oh." Naruto replied a little surprised. "Well, I don't know, we are in a fancy restaurant and all. I just felt like I should act refined." Naruto admitted a tad embarrassed.

"You're not fooling me." Sakura said with a playful smile.

"I don't feel like I need to." Naruto said in a sincere tone.

They both finished what was left of their meal rather quickly and sat their talking.

"So how are things going at the hospital?" Naruto asked before taking a sip of water.

"The hospitals good. With the lack of fighting it has slowed down quite a bit but I don't really mind. It's nice to know not too many of our ninjas are getting hurt. How's your training going?"

"Well, I'm kind of at a dead end right now, but I won't stop training until I perfect this technique. Even if it takes me the rest of the year I will get it." Naruto resolved, his voice increasing in volume due to his excitement and passion.

"Good for you Naruto." Sakura said as a slight smirk appeared on her face.

"What?" Naruto asked with a smile as well.

"It's just that, whenever you talk about training you get all excited, just like when we were twelve. I guess I'm happy to see you didn't grow up too much."

Naruto just smiled at her and she smiled back. Their eyes locked and Sakura could feel that warmth that had been dancing in her mind ever since Naruto came back. She felt safe and happy, in a light euphoria.

Naruto's heart was racing as he looked into her emerald eyes. He felt so happy, just like when he was younger. Before long they both realized they were staring into each other's eyes and quickly looked off to the side.

'Now that's perfect.' Sai thought from outside the restaurant as he picked up his tools and went to work.

"You know what I just realized, neither Tsunade nor Jiraiya showed up." Naruto said in order to break the awkward silence

Sakura looked like she had a sudden realization. "Yeah, that's odd."

"Aw well, I guess it worked out for the better." Naruto said with a smile.

"I guess it did." Sakura resolved.

Naruto leaned back in his chair and let out a long relaxed sigh. While leaning back he looked to his left and then his right. Suddenly a confused look appeared on his face. He then turned around and checked the restaurant. "Wow, I just realized we are some of the last people left."

Sakura immediately checked the rest of the restaurant in order to get conformation. "Wow your right what time-. " Sakura spotted the clock on the wall. "It's already one AM."

"Time flies when you're having fun."

"You're telling me."

Naruto signaled to the waiter who came over immediately having nothing else to do. "Can I get the check please?" Naruto called.

"I will pay for my meal." Sakura offered.

"Naw its fine Sakura-chan."

"I insist-"

"Sir" The waiter started. "The couple over there already paid for the meal." The waiter pointed towards an empty table. "Well that's odd; they were there not too long ago."

Naruto placed his hand to shield his mouth from the waiter and whispered to Sakura. "This guys crazy." Sakura just did her best to contain her laughter. "Well, I guess we will be going then." Naruto said standing up and Sakura followed.

"Goodnight sir, madam. Enjoy the rest of you date."

Naruto and Sakura both looked at each other. It was a date, they both just realized it. "Thank you sir." Naruto called as he left, followed by Sakura.

"Well a free meal, how nice." Naruto said patting his stomach.

"Yeah…" Sakura drifted off. 'This was like a date. I really enjoyed myself.' Sakura thought to herself.

"Is something wrong Sakura-chan?" Naruto worried.

"Oh no I'm fine. I had a lot of fun tonight." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Me too." Naruto responded with a grin. "I guess we can walk back together." Naruto suggested while scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, I would like that." Sakura replied with a smile.

The pair made their way towards the bridge when they saw something totally unexpected. The bridge that they crossed to get the restaurant was in shambles. There were trees collapsed on top of it and the middle was cracked right in half. "What happened." Naruto asked the ANBU that he had noticed on the way in.

'_Finally_.' Yamato thought as he shook of his sleepiness. "It appeared some sort of powerful gust came through and destroyed the bridge. If you want to go back to the village you will have to go around." He pointed towards a path that led up a hill.

"I think we can get across, we are ninja after all." Naruto said.

"No. I am sorry but I cannot allow anyone, even ninja, to pass. It is too dangerous."

"Oh come on." Naruto argued.

"I said no." Yamato implemented his creepy stare. Even with the mask on the full affect was felt by Naruto.

Naruto shuddered. "Fine." He turned and walked off with Sakura by his side. "That guy gives me the creeps." Naruto commented once he and Sakura were one the path. Sakura just laughed.

Once the two were out of view Yamato repaired the bridge by moving the trees back to their original location and rebuilding the center of the bridge. 'Well, my part is done. Time to go to bed. Good luck Sai, you got to finish strong.'

The only way back to the village was up a steep hill. Naruto looked at it for a split second and headed up. "Wait Naruto I don't want to ruin Ino's heels." Sakura said as she balanced on a single foot while removing her heels one at a time.

"Do you want me to carry you up there?" Naruto offered.

"I'm a ninja, remember?" Sakura said as she waved around the pair of shoes.

"I almost forgot." Naruto smirked.

"Do you want me to give you a reminder?" Sakura jokingly clenched her fist.

"Nah, I'll just write it on my hand or something." He called as she headed up the path. Sakura laughed quietly before following the blonde boy.

The two made their way up the steep hill without much trouble. Before long they reached the top. "Oh crap, I know where we are." Naruto said. "Here follow me." Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and pulled her along.

"Where are we going Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"You will see. Watch your step." Naruto made his way through the familiar bushes, navigating the path like a professional. After a few minutes he reached a clearing with Sakura right behind him. The pink haired kunoichi gasped when she got out of the brush.

"Wow, it's amazing up here Naruto. Are we on-"

"Yep, we are on top of the Hokage monument." Naruto interrupted. The blonde took in a deep relaxing breath and headed to his familiar spot. "It's been awhile." Naruto spoke as if he were talking to the fourth's head. He took a seat shortly after that.

Sakura meanwhile was looking all around her, taking in the entire scene. "I never knew it looked like this from up here." Sakura noted as she looked towards the village and made her way towards Naruto. She took a seat nearby and looked to him. "You looked so relaxed right now." Sakura commented.

Naruto smiled. "This place was my escape when I was younger. It was mine. There's nothing more peaceful then sitting here gazing upon the village with a cool breeze blowing through your hair."

"Wow, just the way you describe it makes me feel calm." Sakura paused. "The village looks does amazing from up here." Sakura observed. Suddenly a strong gust blew over them causing Sakura to shiver while rubbing her shoulders.

"You cold?" Naruto asked as he took off his jacket and placed it over the pink haired ninja. "Here."

"What a gentleman." Sakura commented with a slight smile.

"Yeah, maybe I'm more refined then you think." Naruto replied.

"You're not**,** but that's fine with me."

Naruto smiled and looked out towards the village. "It's so calm at one in the morning." Naruto observed as he recalled the time he was on the roof of the Autumn Inn with Kakashi.

"Yeah, and the way the moon reflects off the windows makes the entire village sparkle." Sakura replied with a calm smile.

'Okay Naruto, this is about a perfect moment as you are ever going to get. Not to mention you promised Ayame.' Naruto gave himself a mini pep talk before opening his mouth. "You know, earlier when I said you look nice it's not what I meant to say."

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Sakura replied confused.

"I wanted to say…you look beautiful…like always." Naruto let out a slight smile as he looked to her.

Sakura blushed immediately. "I don't know about that. I didn't really do too much." She said modestly.

"You don't have too." Naruto looked off to the clear night sky like he was reminiscing. "You look beautiful when you tie your hair back and take care of patients. You look beautiful when you're covered in dirt and grime with your hair all messed up from training. You look beautiful whenever I see you wandering the village…and you look beautiful now." Naruto looked back down and stared into Sakura's emerald eyes.

"Naruto…I…" She faded off speechless.

"Sakura-chan, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time." Naruto let out a long sigh while Sakura waited intently. "I'm in love with you; I have been ever since we were young." Naruto had a giant grin on his face as he thought about his feelings. "I looked back on it and I wasn't sure if my feelings were that deep when we were young, but then I remembered how I felt when I looked into your eyes and I realized I was always in love with you." Naruto paused as his smile widened. "I love your passion, your intelligence. I love the way you keep me in line, and your ability to go from vulnerable to strong if others are counting on you. I love your strength, both physical and emotional." Naruto smirked slightly. "I love the way your hair covers your eyes when you remove your forehead protector, and the way you bite your lip when you're deep in thought. Most of all, I love the way I feel when I look into your eyes."

"Wow…" Was all Sakura could manage to say as her eyes watered up.

"Yeah…I'm usually terrible at this stuff, but when it comes to you, it feels natural."

"Naruto…I…" Sakura leaned forward and hugged him. She held him for a minute, not knowing what to say. "Naruto…I'm such an idiot."

"What? I wasn't really expecting you to say that."

"Ever since you returned I felt this warmth. It was there when we were younger but I just ignored it. Now I realize how big of a mistake that was." Sakura paused as she pulled back and looked into his eyes. "The reason I never acted on any of it is…I was scared. Naruto, I've never had such a deep connection with anyone in my entire life. Truthfully, I was afraid that I would mess it up somehow and hurt you and then loose you forever. So to protect you and myself I just denied or disguised those feelings."

"Sakura-chan, I'm not going anywhere." Naruto assured her.

"I know. The truth is I'm in love with you too. It took me awhile to realize it but now I know for a fact. You're the only person who I can be truly myself around and not worry about anything. You're so strong and yet gentle at the same time… You're my rock, the one person I know I can always count on no matter how bad things get." Sakura moved back, placing her hands on his broad shoulders and looking into his eyes. "Uzumaki Naruto, I love you, and I am sorry it took me so long to realize it."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Naruto replied, wearing the biggest grin of his life. "I'm just happy that after all of this time that we can _mmmph."_ Sakura moved her hand over Naruto's mouth.

"Naruto…shut up." Sakura smiled as she leaned forward and met his lips.

They kissed for a few seconds before they pulled back. Then they both pushed forward and their lips crashed.

They were both in state of bliss as their lips danced. The kiss was so fierce yet so gentle at the same time. The couple felt their hearts pounding as they wrapped their arms around each other. They kissed for a minutes before Sakura gently pushed Naruto to get him to lie on his back. She then broke away and laid her head on Naruto's chest before spinning around to face the night sky. Naruto sat up, placing his chin on top of Sakura's head and putting his arms around her.

"You are my first kiss." Sakura said as she looked to the stars.

"You're mine too. I couldn't think of anyone else I would have wanted it to be with." Naruto replied.

"You're forgetting something Naruto." Sakura commented, a smile creeping onto her face.

"What?" Naruto replied confused.

"Your first kiss was with Saskue. Hope you don't think I forgot." Sakura now had a full blown smile.

"Bah, you had to remind me. After all of these years I had finally blocked out that memory and now its back." Naruto sighed.

"Well was your kiss with Saskue better than mine?"

"No, but he gave you a run for your money." Naruto joked. Sakura lightly smacked him on the leg in reply. "I could stay like this forever."

"Me too." Sakura said as she looked up at the stars.

They sat there in silence for another thirty minutes, both enjoying each other without words.

"It's late; I should probably take you back home." Naruto spoke after their long silence.

"Yeah you're probably right. My parents might be going crazy right now." Sakura thought before she stood up. Naruto stood up as well and led the way down back to the village.

"This has been the best night of my life." Naruto said when they reached the bottom on the monument.

"Yeah," Sakura agreed as she looked to the sky. "Who knew you were such a romantic." She commented then laughed.

"I had to be. There was no way I was going to let Ero-sennin have a better love confession than me."

"Don't worry; his can't even hold a candle to yours." Sakura reassured the boy.

"That's what I was going for." Naruto smiled.

A few minutes later they reached Sakura's home only to see a package sitting next to the door. It was a large rectangle wrapped in paper. "What's that?" Naruto asked as he pointed towards the mysterious object.

"I don't know." Sakura moved forward and grabbed the object. She found an edge and tore the paper wrapping off. Once she saw what lied under the paper her eyes widened. It was a painting of her and Naruto staring into each other's eyes in the Golden Leaf restaurant.

"Wow." Naruto commented from over Sakura's shoulder. "I don't know whether to be amazed or creeped out.

"I know." Sakura replied. She turned the painting around to see if anything was on the back of the frame. There she found an envelope. She pulled it off and opened it before reading the contents out loud.

_Dear Naruto and Sakura,_

_ This letter is a failsafe if after all of our planning and effort you two still haven't come forward with your __**mutual**__ feelings for each other. If there is one advantage of being older, it is that you can understand and read people's emotions. It took Jiraiya_ _and me forty years to realize how we felt and I don't want the same thing to happen to you two. Luckily for us our pupils forced us into a situation where confrontation of our feelings was necessary (yes we know what you did). As such, we would like to return the favor and get even with you two. Anyways, we are even now. You can thank Sai for the painting next time you see him._

_P.S. This is Sai. While I never am able to find the right word to call my paintings, this one came intuitively. Love. Just thought you guys should know the name._

Sakura smiled. "Jeeze, all of these people involved just so we can admit our feelings."

"Yep. Looks like they pulled on over on us." Naruto commented.

"Well, I guess this is good night." Sakura commented as she looked to Naruto.

Naruto just nodded while blushing.

"Goodnight." Sakura said then turned towards her house.

Before Sakura could reach the door Naruto grasped her hand and spun her around. He leaned forward and kissed the pink haired kunoichi. "I hope you didn't think you were getting away without a kiss goodnight." He said playfully.

"Nope. I just wanted to see if you would stop me." Sakura replied with a smile.

"Who wouldn't?" Naruto then leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her lips. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Sakura replied as she turned around, picked up the painting and entered her home. She looked back once and smiled through the window. Naruto smiled back. Once Sakura was out of view Naruto slowly walked back to his apartment in a state of pure happiness.

"Well I guess we did it." Tsunade commented form atop the roof across from Sakura's home.

"Yep." Jiraiya replied with a smile. "Sooo…I helped you play matchmaker with those two. Do I get something in return?" A perverted grin appeared on Jiraiya's face.

"Oh I guess you earned it." Tsunade turned to face him and slowly undid her robe.

"OOOH in public? How naughty." Jiraiya said in excitement.

Once Tsunade finished undoing her rope she whipped it off and threw it onto Jiraiya. He quickly removed it from his head only to see Tsunade walking away with her v cut top and pants on. "Jiraiya-dear, can you take that to the dry cleaners for me. All of this spying got it dirty." She said as she walked off calmly.

"WHAT?"

The end.

Well that's it…maybe . I was thinking about making a short epilogue and was wondering if any of you guys would like one. If not I have another story that I wrote before this one that I might publish. It still needs a lot of cleaning and such so I won't be able to post all of it at once. It's also a Naruto Sakura story. It has a little more action and manga related stuff, not to mention a lot more Ino. I don't know what it is, but Ino is fun to write as even though she has a small part in the manga. Sorry about the fluff if it's not your thing, but for me Naru/Sakur = fluff. Anyways I would like to thank everyone for reading and leaving reviews. The reviews really reassure me that I was doing at least a decent job. So, go ahead and tell me what you think about the story as a whole or just this chapter. Also say if you think an epilogue would work. Thanks for reading and sorry once again about the huge delay.


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